SDLP MLA Joe Byrne
has expressed concern that new unemployment figures show efforts made by
the economic ministries in the Executive are not working, and has called for
Ministers to 'get real' on job creation.
Wed 20th
March
Mr Byrne
said:
“The news
today that 1,923 people are currently in
receipt of unemployment benefit in the Strabane area is a worrying upward
trend, and should serve as a wakeup call to Executive Ministers that their
attempts to revive the economy are not working. Almost 65,000 people across the
North are now out of work, a large - and growing proportion of those are young
people. I have long called for the Department of Employment and Learning in
particular to get serious about the impact joblessness is having on the next
generation, and for too long they have offered piecemeal platitudes and PR
stunts.
All our
economic departments must realise that until we can tackle unemployment head on
by creating sustainable jobs and attracting long term investment, we are
condemning those we serve to a bleak future, and the SDLP has not and will not
stand silent and allow the responsible Ministers and their departments to
continue to fail and the economy flounders.
No comments:
Post a Comment