By Claire Duignan

claire.duignan@kildarepost.com

Shocking figures released last week show that Kildare unemployment level has soared 74 per cent  in recent months.

The figures for Kildare show an increase from 5,662 in October 2007 to 9,851 people in October 2008, an increase of 4,189 or 74 per cent.

 “These figures are truly shocking and suggest that unemployment is now spinning out of control. It is clear now that unless some action is urgently taken we will be in a situation like that of the 80s,” said local TD Emmet Stagg.

“With almost 252,000 on the Live Register in real terms and a seasonally adjusted level of 260,000, there are now almost 100,000 more on the Live Register than12 months ago. This is the first time the figures have exceeded the quarter of a million figure since August 1997.”

He went on to say “The government appears to have abandoned the unemployed and thrown in the towel on the problem. The Labour Party has proposed a series of measures to combat the unemployment problem that have been totally ignored by the government. These include a major school building programme to take 40,000 children out of pre-fabs and put them into proper classrooms and a national insulation scheme to make our housing stock more energy efficient, thus reducing carbon emissions and reducing household energy bills.

“Both of these programmes would have the potential to take back into employment many of the workers who have lost their jobs as a result of the downturn in the construction sector. We also need a substantial programme of investment in skills and retraining, and an increase in the number of places available under the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme.”