Posts tagged unemployment

Nearly 100 jobs to go at Budget Travel

travel
Budget Travel is to close up to 14 of its travel stores with the loss of almost 100 jobs.

The company currently employs 266 people at 31 outlets around the country.

The company says it has begun a 30-day consultation process with staff to discuss plans for a ‘very significant’ restructuring of the business in the coming months.

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Jobless snub FAS offer of work scheme without wages

fas
A new scheme aimed at giving unemployed people the opportunity to gain work experience has received only a lukewarm reception.

So far, just 170 applicants have registered for the programme, which gives the unemployed, unpaid work experience while retaining their social welfare benefits.

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Opposition parties criticise Bord Snip recommendations

minister

Opposition parties have given a mixed reaction to the contents of the Bord Snip Nua report, which recommends around €5.3 billion worth of public spending cuts.

Fine Gael’s Richard Bruton broadly welcomed the report, but said it wasn’t perfect.

“The notion that you would seek to charge the most vulnerable people for their medicines is something that will shock people,” Mr Bruton said, in reference to the board’s controversial recommendation to introduce a €5 charge for those previously receiving free prescriptions.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the report was written by people who have no experience of poverty

His view was echoed by Sinn Fein TD Aengus O’Snodaigh, who said the Government and the author of the report, Colm McCarthy, are out of touch with reality.

Update:

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has appealed to the public to avoid “knee-jerk and defensive reactions” after the publication of today’s report by An Bord Snip Nua.

The report, which lays out recommendation for one of the biggest planned cutbacks in the history of the State, urges 17,300 public sector lay-offs and has already drawn threats of a painful strike by public workers.

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Lenihan admits Irish economy was overheated

The Dáil is to debate the financial crisis in the wake of two reports that predicted a huge contraction in the economy and surging unemployment next year.

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Unemployment Rate Reaches Record High

The number of people on the Live Register hit 400,000 for the first time last month.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, there are now 402,100 people on the Live Register seeking unemployment benefit or allowances.

It is the first time the numbers on the dole have ever reached this level. It translates into an unemployment rate of 11.8%.

The mid-east counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow recorded the highest proportionate increases in the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in the past year, Central Statistics Office figures show.

During the year to May, there has been an unadjusted increase of 195, 115 joining the Live Register, a rise of 96.7 per cent.

The south-east region had the smallest percentage rise but that still amounted to an 83.2 per cent increase.

Limerick had the largest monthly rise of all counties, recording a 7.1 per cent increase while Kerry performed best with a decrease of 1.3 per cent.

The number of males joining the register rose in all regions over the month with the largest rise recorded in the mid-west (4.7 per cent) and the smallest in the midlands (2.2 per cent).

The largest percentage rise in females signing on was recorded in the south east at 5.9 per cent, while the smallest percentage increase was in the south-west region at 1.8 per cent.

In May, there were 317,794 Irish nationals and 79,077 non-Irish nationals on

the Live Register. This represents a monthly increase of 11,196 or 3.7 per cent in Irish

nationals and 1,227 or 1.6 per cent in non-Irish nationals.