THE GOVERNMENT has been accused of paralysis in the face of the crisis in the economy, as the latest official figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) confirmed a big rise in unemployment and further job losses in Offaly and Cork added to the gloom.
Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said the figures in the Quarterly National Household survey showed the downturn was gaining pace, while Labour's enterprise spokesman Willie Penrose accused the Taoiseach and his Government of failing to provide leadership.
Mr Bruton said the figures showed an extremely rapid deterioration in the economy since March, with employment down 26,600 in one quarter and a consistent decline for the first time since the 1980s. "There is now an alarming gulf between what the Government is doing and what is necessary to change the underlying economic performance. The spending packages are no more than papering over cracks in a mindless exercise and are not based on delivering genuine value for money and cutting out serious waste," he said.
"This Government is doing nothing to restore confidence and showing no sign of being willing to take the decisions necessary to get the economy back on track. Serious questions are now being asked as to whether the Government understands the scale of the problem," Mr Bruton added.
Mr Bruton said that most of those losing their jobs were in the construction sector and were mainly young and well-qualified.
"They are ideal candidates for retraining and there is a real opportunity here to enable them to find alternative work. With a bit of imagination, there are plenty of things the Government could do to help the unemployed get back to work. Yet Fianna Fáil has shown almost no initiative in this area."
He added that in the face of rising home energy costs and greenhouse gas reduction targets, the unemployed could be redirected to improve the energy efficiency of Ireland's housing stock.
"We could also quickly expand training places in non-construction related crafts, such as logistics and technical engineering where demand for skilled staff is still growing. All of this would take a degree of vision, ambition and commitment that is sorely lacking in this tired Government," he said.
Mr Penrose said the increase of more than 15 per cent in the unemployment level mirrored a similar increase in the monthly Live Register and pointed to the extent of the jobs crisis the country faces.
"A major element of the huge increase in male unemployment is due to the downturn in construction. Tens of thousands of workers and their families are paying a high price for this Government's gross mishandling of the construction sector. Almost 40,000 has been added to the Live Register since Brian Cowen was elected Taoiseach in May, but the Government seems paralysed and incapable of action," he said.
"Most of all we need some leadership from the Government and some indication from the Taoiseach and Tánaiste that they are going to start treating the unemployment crisis with the seriousness it deserves," he added.
