Dire jobless figures show nearly 7,000 out of work in the county

Unemployment rates in Meath have almost doubled in the last year with 6,977 people now on the live register in Meath in December 2008, an increase of 96.1 per cent on the same month last year. Latest CSO statistics have shown that the number of jobless in Meath has grown from 3,557 in December 2007 to 6,977 in December 2008. Unemployment figures rose 10.8 per cent between November and December 2008. Kells saw the most dramatic increase in unemployment figures with an 111 per cent increase on numbers signing on between December 2007 and December 2008, bringing the number of unemployed there to 1,298. In Navan, the number of unemployed people increased by 94 per cent, to 3,636, while in Trim, the increase was 91 per cent, bringing the total number signing on to 2,043. These figures are all well above the national average of 71 per cent. Labour Party local election candidate Michael McLoughlin is calling for urgent action to address County Meath"s job crisis, saying that Meath has the fastest growing unemployment rate in Ireland. He is calling for 'a radical overhaul in how employment and enterprise issues are dealt with involving a massive re-focusing of public efforts on retraining, job creation and employment schemes for those who can"t find work'. He added: 'Unfortunately, we have rapidly returned to the bad old days of the 1980s with rising unemployment, terrible government finances and very little leadership. It is now clear that County Meath is to suffer most from this awful state of affairs,' he said. He said there was a need to refocus efforts in the areas of enterprise and employment. 'Clearly, the downturn in construction has hit County Meath hard. There is a need to retrain many who worked in that sector, particularly if their skills are out of date. We also need a public investment programme to deal with our creaking infrastructure and an increase in employment schemes for those who find it hardest to find work. Government can no longer sit idly by while a new generation of people are consigned to the scrapheap. If they can"t act, they should step aside and give a chance to those who will,' added Mr McLoughlin. The unemployment figures released by the CSO are the clearest indication to date that the FF/Green Government has no idea how to deal with the ongoing financial and employment crisis, according to Cllr Joe Reilly, who called on the Government to resign. 'An increase of 120,987, bringing the total unemployed figure to 8.3 per cent of the workforce, equates to a figure 293,500. This is the largest number of annual jobs losses in the 41 years of record keeping,' he said. Cllr Reilly described the Government as directionless, leaderless, bereft of ideas and having no plan as how to handle either the credit crunch crisis or the wider problems affecting the economy. 'Barack Obama has shown how the Irish Government should be responding. It is the time for the Government to invest in the future economy by front-loading major infrastructural projects such as schools, communications, energy and public transport. Such projects would stimulate the economy, create employment and would offer the Irish economy the opportunity to be more competitive when the global economy returns to growth,' he said. 'Instead, we have had announcement, followed by announcement, by the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance. 'On at least four occasion, plans were announced that were immediately overtaken by new figures and scrapped within days. 'Before Christmas, the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance launched a recovery plan. On Morning Ireland this week, the Taoiseach said it wasn"t a plan, just a framework plan to allow a plan of recovery to develop.' Cllr Reilly said it was abundantly clear that this Government does not have the self-belief, leadership or ability to lead the economy to recovery. 'It should do the decent thing and resign,' he said.