Local TD and Fine Gael Innovation Spokesperson Deirdre Clune has expressed her sympathy to the 140 employees of Smurfit Kappa in Togher and called on the Government to take positive steps to address the growing unemployment crisis that has now reached 11.9%.

The 140 people that have lost their jobs today in Smurfit Kappa in Togher will now join 413,500 on the Live Register. This is devastating news to the employees and their families as the prospect for employment in the current economic climate is not good and they now face long delays in applying for jobseekers’ social welfare payments.

The Taoiseach’s response to the CSO Live Register for June (PDF 93kb) shows and man dangerously out of touch with the reality of life for the 413,500 currently on the Live Register and the 140 employees of Smurfit Kappa that now face joining them.

Today’s CSO figures show that in the two years this Fianna Fáil & Green Government has been in power unemployment has jumped by a quarter of a million people increasing from 161,500 to 413,500 when seasonally adjusted.

What we need is Government action not Government promises. The Government must take urgent steps to focus on job creation and job protection and until that is done more people face the devastation of losing their job and we will witness more days dominated by job losses and growing live register figures.