Number of people on live register in Longford has decreased by 52% since 2012

Deputy Burke said: “The latest CSO reports are out and they show that in Longford, the number of people on the Live Register has dropped again with the numbers of people signing on down by 15% since the same time last year. The Live Register in the county has decreased by 52% since Fine Gael launched its Action Plan for Jobs in 2012.

“These figures are impressive and show that 442 people returned to employment this year.  This amounts to a 15% increase in employment in one year.  There are 442 people working this December that were unemployed last Christmas.  This makes a huge difference to 442 families across the county and has knock on effects on the local economy too.

“The overall unemployment rate for the country stands at 5.3%, down from 15.1% in early 2012 when Fine Gael launched its Action Plan for Jobs. Even more encouragingly, we are still seeing declines in long-term unemployment across the country.

“There are now 2,273,200 people employed; the highest level ever. Employment growth has now been recorded in the last 25 consecutive quarters.

“Do not believe those who claim this is a Dublin only recovery. The CSO reports that 67.5% of the jobs created are outside Dublin, and this is reflected in our figures in Longford figures.

“Fine Gael in Government has put the right policies in place to allow our economy and society to grow in a way that builds our resilience and ensures we are well positioned for what lies ahead. We are on track to achieve the Government’s target of creating an additional 200,000 jobs by 2020.

“As my colleague the Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe (who visited Mullingar this week), has highlighted, our focus now is not just on job creation alone but also on the sustainability and productivity of jobs into the future. The Government’s Future Jobs Programme 2019 brings a new strategic approach to sustainable economic growth and job creation as we approach full-employment.”