Further 678 join county's dole queue in February

Some 678 people lost their jobs in Meath in the month of February, according to the latest live register figures, bringing to 8,897 the numbers now 'signing on" in the county. However, the rate of increase in the live register figures has levelled off and is now in line with the national average of 8.1 per cent. For several months, Meath had the highest rate of increase in the country with a 17.8 per cent jump in live register figures in January, but for February, the rate of increase has eased back to 8.2 per cent. There are now 4,683 claiming benefits in Navan, 2,649 in Trim and 1,565 in Kells. Overall, live register figures have more than doubled between February 2008 and February 2009, jumping from 4,121 to 8,897 in a year. Comparing figures for February 2008 and February 2009, Meath has had the highest increase in numbers 'signing on" in the country, with a 116 per cent increase. The construction industry has been particularly badly hit by the slump, with the revelation that as many as 34 builders in Meath went to the wall in 2008. Diverging views of the construction industry"s prospects in Meath have emerged this week with a trade union official saying that house-building in the county would not recover for five years and a construction industry representative claiming that Meath was best placed to rebound from the recession when the upturn comes. The recession is hitting the construction industry hard. A total of 86 such companies throughout the country collapsed in the first two months of the year, more than double the number of construction-linked casualties for the same period last year. This represented 40 per cent of all collapsed businesses in the year so far. Business advisory company FGS said that 225 companies went into receivership, liquidation or examinership in January, representing a 150% rise on the year before, when 91 firms. In a county-by-county summary of creditors" voluntary liquidations, High Court liquidations, receiverships and examinerships, FGS said that Meath had had 34 such cases in the year ended 31st December 2008. This grew from 11 in 2004, 13 in 2005, 13 in 2006 and 19 in 2007. Kevin Flavin, north-east branch secretary for the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), which represents Meath, Louth and Monaghan, said it appeared that in house sales, sentiment in the market leaned favourably towards first-time buyers. He said a lot of people had sat on the fence for the last two years in the hope that house prices would fall and he believed that this had happened. In addition, there was some hope in the industry that the Government would move to introduce some initiative in the house-building sector. He said the industry"s best hope lay in public procurement. The CIF was strongly pressing the Government to push ahead with capital projects. 'This would help keep people at work in the construction industry,' he said. 'If the Government does invest in public projects, it will get a return in taxation and VAT.' However, Anton McCabe of SIPTU said that, in terms of housing, he did not think that Meath would be on the 'priority list for bouncing back from the recession'. He said: 'There is a lot of land out there for development at gazumped prices, and we can"t see it being developed in five years unless there is a turnaround. If you looked at the current availability of housing and apartment stock in Navan, for instance, you would say that there would be no recovery in the house-building sector for five years.' He said his union was 'inundated' by two sections of the workforce - estate agents begging them to recommend people who might want to rent property, and laid-off workers seeking information about their social welfare entitlements. He said there were openings for employment in capital and 'green" projects but there was still no sign of any Government initiative on that front, he said. Meath Sinn Féin Councillor Joe Reilly, meanwhile, has described the soaring unemployment figures for Meath as 'catastrophic'. He said: 'The Government cannot continue to ignore the fact that the €5 billion deficit in our public finances is directly related to job losses. Due to this massive increase in unemployment, tax revenue has collapsed while spending on welfare and medical cards is €1.5 billion over budget. However the Government"s sole approach on cuts and borrowing is fundamentally undermining Ireland"s economy. The number one priority should be retaining and creating jobs. It should be getting Ireland back to work.' Cllr Reilly added: 'We need a plan to hold onto or create the 1,000 jobs a day that are being lost. We need to fast-track business start-ups. We need to create a Sales Ireland strategy that maximises our existing indigenous export market as well as developing its growth prospects in the immediate and longer term. We need to foster and develop a real innovation culture. Success is possible but not until the current Government delivers a plan. If they cannot, it is time for them to go.' Leinster MEP Candidate Nessa Childers said the figures were 'nothing short of shocking'. She said: 'Urgent action is required from the Government. We need to create new jobs as quickly as possible. We must also ensure that those who have lost their jobs do not now lose their homes. 'We in the Labour Party have been calling for a three-year moratorium on home repossessions since last year. That must be implemented immediately. We cannot risk people losing their homes as well as their jobs.'