31/03/2008

Unemployment To Exceed UK's For First Time

A Fine Gael TD has leaked figures showing Ireland's unemployment is to exceed that of the UK's for the first time in over a decade.

TD Leo Varadkar has said the Live Register, due next week, will show the unemployment rate in Ireland will be higher than not only the UK, but the US, Poland, Austria & Denmark.

The TD has also said the figures will show 20,000 more unemployed since the Fianna Faíl minister, Micheál Martin, took up the office of Enterprise minister.

The minister said he would "expose [the government's] appalling record on jobs in the Dáil this week".

He said: "Brian Cowen and Micheál Martin have squandered the boom and led the economy into bust. Since Micheál Martin was appointed Enterprise Minister the number of people signing on has increased by more than 20,000. Brian Cowen's sloppy management and his reliance on a debt-fuelled housing bubble has plunged Ireland into a serious economic crisis."

The ministers comments come on the back of economic turmoil and stock market gymnastics, which has affected the statistics already suffering from a major downturn in the construction sector.

Mr Varadkar added: "The rate of economic growth is expected to fall to a level somewhere between 1% and 3% in 2008. Yet other economies around the world continue to power ahead including China (9.8%), India (7.8%), Russia (7.0%), Poland (5.1%), and Australia (4.0%) not to mention our major knowledge economy competitors Singapore (4.4%), South Korea (4.4%), and Hong Kong (4.0%)."

(DW/JM)


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