Job loss jump is highest in Meath

Dole queues in Meath have risen faster than anywhere else in the country with an overall 91 per cent increase in jobless numbers since this time last year. The full scale of job losses across the county emerged in the past week as official figures show the numbers of unemployed have jumped by 122 per cent in Trim, 111 per cent in Kells and 94 per cent in Navan in the past 12 months. A bleak picture of job losses, difficulties meeting mortgage repayments and people being taken to court over outstanding bills emerged this week as the full extent of the numbers of unemployed were revealed. Meath"s jobless numbers have risen from 3,301 last year to 6,292 today, an increase of 91 per cent since this time last year - and the numbers are expected to continue to rise. Politicians canvassing for next year"s local elections in recent weeks have found somebody affected by redundancy in a frighteningly high percentage of houses they visit and spoke of a blanket of fear across the county. Local representatives and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) have also had people approach them with worries over mortgages, being sued for debts and enquiring about redundancy entitlements. Tommy Curran of MABS in Navan said many people were in a lot of debt and the banks don"t seem to care what their circumstances were. He said he had dealt with a case recently where a financial institution was looking for a committal order for a severely disabled man. He said while more people were coming to them now, he expected the floodgates to open after Christmas. 'You can see the panic in people"s faces when they come to us. When people realise there is no more money, they go into shock, but people will adapt,' he said. Mr Curran said the biggest job they have is trying to keep people out of the courts and while financial institutions are suing people over bad debts, repossessions of houses have slowed down, as banks find themselves with too many houses, all losing value, on their hands. Deputy Damien English said while visiting estates around the county in recent weeks, the numbers of people facing redundancy was frighteningly high. He said people were coming to him with problems with mortgage repayment and delays in getting social welfare payments. 'There are very serious problems out there,' he said. Deputy Shane McEntee agreed there were problems right across the board, from people losing their jobs and people with commitments based on overtime payments who now find themselves with no overtime. He was highly critical of the financial institutions who had refused to pass on recent mortgae interest rate decreases. Cllr Joe Reilly predicted the situation would get even worse after Christmas. 'I have spoken to a number of small business people who have work up until Christmas, but nothing after that. There is a blanket of fear out there and a very negative atmosphere,' he said. David Browne, a candidate in next year"s Navan Town Council election, said that during a recent canvas, he encountered one in three or four houses had been effected by unemployment or layoffs. 'The actual real-life doorstep stories make for much more worrying thoughts then printed jobless figures. Many of these people face into a festive season of uncertainty, with high mortgages and mounting debts, and the Government warning that it will get worse rather then better, in the foreseeable future. 'The fact the nothing is being done by this current Government to stimulate a failing economy, apart from unbelievable cutbacks in all the wrong areas, and increased warnings of doom and gloom, is nothing short of one of the biggest national scandals in the history of the State,' he said. The current scale of job losses, with one person losing their job every three minutes, is doing untold damage to both the economy and to society, he added. 'The 16,900 extra people signing on in the last month are facing a very bleak Christmas,' he added.