According to the latest Live Register figures, the North West and Border regions, and Co Donegal in particular, is lagging far behind the rest of the country when it comes to tackling the jobs crisis.
Deputy McConalogue explained: “As of the end of March, there were 19,185 people on the Live Register in Co Donegal. That’s a tiny decrease from the 19,526 at the end of February. The decrease is more than offset by the numbers who have been forced to leave Donegal for work, the numbers who have dropped off the Live Register to engage in education and training and the numbers who have been kicked off the Live Register because their Job Seekers entitlements have expired.
“It means that we have seen virtually no improvement in the employment situation in Co Donegal. This adds to the strong sense that there is a two-tiered recovery underway in this country. While Dublin may be benefiting from some improvements, Donegal and the North West are being left behind. There has been a major fall-off in IDA visits to this region over the past three years and little or no focus by this Government in creating jobs in Donegal and the North West region.
“It’s extremely frustrating for Donegal job seekers to hear the Government praising itself for the ‘improvements’ in the labour market, when there is little evidence of any improvements here in Donegal. The Government cannot afford to sit back and claim that we no longer have a jobs crisis. This is simply not true. Over 200 people a day are still emigrating. There are now 180,000 people across the country who have been out of work for over 12 months. And we have serious regional imbalances in employment rates that seem to be growing month on month.
“I am once again calling on the Government to recognise the extent of the job crisis in the North West and start making a targeted effort to create jobs in this region. We cannot continue to allow a situation where parts of the country experience some economic recovery while other parts, like Donegal, are left behind. It’s time that this Government made Donegal and the North West region a priority.”
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