25th Month in a Row Live Register Figures Drop

I welcome the further annual fall in the Live Register in July in the Nutgrove and Dun Laoghaire areas. In July the Live Register fell by 7.58% in Dublin, with decreases of 9.77% in Nutgrove and 7.03% in Dun Laoghaire.

These are encouraging figures, and show the progress we are making in reducing the numbers of unemployed people across South Dublin. As I said last month, we’ve still got a serious job of work to do but unemployment is on a downward trajectory.

While some local representatives have sought to belittle this achievement, it’s important to note that this is in fact the 25th month in a row that the live register figures have fallen.

Labour Ministers have introduced schemes such as JobsPlus and Springboard that are already helping people to move out of long-term unemployment into high-quality training, education and full-time employment.

The recent ESRI report, showing that the gap between rich and poor in Ireland has actually narrowed in recent years, is proof that we have protected social welfare while helping people move into work.

The country is in recovery mode, with consumer confidence up and the Central Bank forecasting increased economic growth of 2.5% for 2014.

The key challenge is to ensure that everyone across Dublin South benefits from the recovery, that we create good jobs for people locally and that we build a social recovery as well as an economic recovery