EVERY job that the Government creates must be of good quality and pay a decent wage.
That’s the view of Dublin Bay North TD Sean Kenny (Lab) who was speaking after last week’s Live Register figures showed that unemployment has fallen for the 30th consecutive month.
Unemployment has come down from 15.1 per cent in February 2012 to 10.6 per cent in December 2014.
Deputy Kenny welcomed the figures and said they demonstrate the economic recovery.
“It means that people are going back to work after the worst economic recession to affect Ireland in many decades,
? he said.
“I also welcome the continued fall in youth unemployment to 13.5 per cent, which is significant in itself.
“The present Government, when it took office, stated that one of its core aims was getting people back to work.
“I think the figures demonstrate that the Government strategy of tackling unemployment, which has been to establish the Action Plan for Jobs and to set up the Pathways to Work strategy, is definitely succeeding.
“Having said that however, a job in itself is not enough – every job must be of good quality and pay a decent wage so that people can live in a society, not just merely survive in an economy.
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Deputy Kenny added:
“I would call on the Government to ensure that each new job that is created also pays decently and allows people to live.
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Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, also welcomed the latest figures.
“Every job created is a life changed, a family improved and a community enhanced,
? he said.
“Also crucially, it is by job-creation and economic growth that we can put money back in people’s pockets through tax cuts and improve public services that people rely on.
“The Action Plan for Jobs is working. Since it was launched, 80,000 additional people are at work. In recent days we have seen further good news, with strong Exchequer returns and IDA results for 2014. This has not happened by accident – it is by consistently pursuing our plan to improve competitiveness and provide new supports for job creation that this can take place.
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Minister Bruton conceded that many people were still
“feeling the effects
? of unemployment.
“With unemployment still above 10 per cent we have a long way to go,
? he added.
“However, the figures can give people further confidence that if we continue implementing our plan, we can continue to grow the economy, create jobs, reduce unemployment and ultimately create a better country for people to live in.
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Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, also welcomed the news.
“The Live Register figures, while still too high, show that the Government’s twin-track approach to creating jobs and reducing unemployment – through the Pathways to Work strategy and the Action Plan for Jobs – is succeeding,
? she said.
Dublin Central TD Joe Costello (Lab) described the reduction in unemployment as
“remarkable
?.
“The Live Register has now fallen by almost 40,000 in the last 12 months, and the most recent Quarterly National Household Survey indicates that the vast majority of these new jobs are full-time,
? he said.
“If the recovery continues to take hold, we are well on the way to single digit unemployment in 2015.
“The benefits of the recovery should be fairly distributed amongst those who sacrificed most in the recession.
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The seasonally adjusted figure for December 2014 was 363,900,