ISME: Generation of young educated Irish are 'economic migrants'
ISME have castigated the Government for its “hands off” approach to the jobs crisis following the release of the Live Register figures today.
The association called for an immediate National Economic Plan, with increased focus on initiatives to maintain employment, including the reintroduction of the Employment Subsidy Scheme to all sectors of the business community.
The latest seasonally adjusted live register figures confirm that 452,500 people are claiming assistance, up 34,400 on the corresponding period last year, an increase of 8%, with the standardised unemployment rate rising to 13.7%.
The redundancy figures confirm that there have been 35,256 redundancies to the end of July, with 57% of these in construction and manufacturing and 43% of job losses were in the services sector.
Females now account for 37% of redundancies, confirming that job losses continue to be spread throughout the whole economy.
ISME Chief Executive, Mark Fielding, said: "The true level of unemployment is under-reported through increased emigration, increased participation on state training initiatives and a significant rise in individuals remaining in education. These facts mask the true picture in the jobs market; where well over half a million of our citizens are out of work.
"The total lack of an overall economic plan for the country is a national disgrace, which will have repercussions for years to come. The Government seem to have bought into the idea that Ireland is set for “jobless growth” and have turned a deaf ear to calls for a jobs stimulus package, which will more than pay for itself.
"The lack of innovative economic and business thinking, leading to a form of paralysis at Cabinet level is mind boggling.
"It is a crying shame that a whole generation of young, educated Irish has to become economic migrants, like their parents in the 70’s and 80’s. Meanwhile our government can afford to take holidays, bereft of ideas, lacking a plan, without a solution in sight. All the indications are that the labour market will continue to deteriorate, with thousands of more jobs at risk as the cabinet tinkers around the edges, sans strategy, sans plan, sans anything."
