Fine Gael TD for Limerick, Patrick O’Donovan, has said that a drop of 12.5% in unemployment figures for county Limerick is a clear indication that the economic recovery is well underway.
“This week we learned that the national live register rate has dropped to 11%, the lowest since 2009. This is extremely good news for the country as a whole but I am particularly pleased to see that the number of people out of work in county Limerick has dropped.
“In October 2013 17,691 people in county Limerick were on the live register and this October that number has dropped to 15,474. This is a reduction of 12.5% which is the second highest reduction in the Country. There is no doubt that this figure remains far too high but it is very encouraging to see that things are moving in the right direction.
“This Government has been given the task of getting this country back on its feet. These figures show that the economic recovery is real and that it is resulting in people getting back to work. Over 70,000 jobs have been created since the launch of the Action Plan for Jobs in 2012 and we are on track to meet our target of creating 100,000 jobs by 2016.
“This week alone 1,200 jobs were announced in Ireland; these are real jobs and this figure does not include the small, indigenous Irish businesses that took on new employees in the last seven days.
“Unemployment has been a huge problem in Limerick and there are still many people out of work in our area. Spreading the recovery throughout all regions of the country is a key element of the Action Plan for Jobs and this is happening through the launch of a new Regional Enterprise Strategy, by doubling the funding available to start-ups, through the new SURE (Start Up Refund for Entrepreneurs) scheme to support start-up businesses, and a range of other measures.
“Live Register figures have been dropping for many months now, the Government’s plan is working but we know that there is still a long way to go. The progress that has been made is due to the hard work and sacrifice of Irish people, of people here in our local community. It is important that everyone who has contributed to the economic recovery feels its benefit and this is something we are committed to achieving.”