Unemployment up slightly in March

There has been another slight increase in the number of people signing on.

Latest figures from the Central Statistics office show that 433,000 people were claiming unemployment benefit in March.

This seasonally adjusted figure shows an increase of 600 since February.

The standardised unemployment rate in March was 13.4%, compared to 13.1% in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Leo Varadkar, Fine Gael enterprise spokesman, said unemployment has trebled since the Government came to power.

“The most worrying feature of today’s figures is evidence that more and more people are moving from short-term jobseekers’ benefit to long-term jobseekers’ allowance, as their stamps run out,” he claimed.

“The social consequences of long-term unemployment are as serious as the economic ones currently paralysing the country. It leads to a loss of hope, destroys communities and causes poverty.”

Mr Varadkar claimed the Government had given the banks a bailout of €40bn yesterday but nothing for the unemployed.

His comments were however dismissed as "cynical" by Enterprise Minister Batt O'Keefe.

"Fine Gael’s populist effort to link the bank recapitalisation plan with the plight of unemployed workers is the kind of cynical politics that has no place in our collective economic recovery project," Minister O'Keefe said.

"Without a functioning banking sector, there would be no real economy to support job creation.

"The fact is that while the Government gets on with tackling the unemployment challenge, the Opposition goes the route of political points scoring," said Minister O’Keeffe.

Sinn Féin enterprise spokesman Arthur Morgan accused the Government of pouring billions into a banking black hole rather than job creation.

“While a whole generation of young, educated and skilled people are leaving our shores, the Government are only intent on securing the futures of their friends in the banks,” Mr Morgan said.

“The Ireland they are creating is not an equal or fair one.

“The Ireland they are creating is one habitable only for developers, bankers and their political cronies.”

Labour's Willie Penrose said the country is facing the prospect of long-term unemployment and a repeat of the social damage it caused in the 1980s.

“Why is it that this government can go hell-for-leather when it comes to bailing out the banks, but are entirely bereft of ideas, energy and creativity when it comes to tackling unemployment?” Mr Penrose asked.

One in three young men are now out of work, according to the CSO report.

There are almost twice as many men as women on the register – 290,867 to 146,089 – with 85,120 people under 25 signing on last month.

Mr Penrose added: “Ireland needs investment in infrastructure like renewable energy and next-generation communications networks.

“This will create the environment for a new wave of indigenous companies focused on the huge opportunities that will arise as a result of the expansion of digital technologies and the transition to a low-carbon economy over the coming decades.”

Mark Fielding, chief executive of Isme, the small business association, said the numbers out of work are being masked by emigration, more people in state training and a significant increase in individuals staying on in education.

He added: “A recent Isme survey confirmed that one in four SMEs (small and medium enterprises) anticipated reducing employment numbers over the next 12 months, which equates to a minimum of 60,000 jobs at risk in the SME sector.

“It is imperative that these jobs are saved and policies are put in place to assist companies in job creation.”