Rate of job losses slows to around 100 per day

Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin says the number of people losing jobs in Ireland has slowed down significantly in recent weeks.

Ms Hanafin told the Oireachtas Committee on Social and Family Affairs that 1,000 new people were signing on every day at one stage earlier this year.

However, that figure has now dropped to around 100 or 120 people a day.

Despite this, Ms Hanafin says it is too early to interpret the figures as "green shoots" of economic recovery.