Foot-and-mouth disease caused about 1,000 people to be laid off from meat factories and the tourism industry in April. This increase contributed to a 1,700 rise to 139,500 in the numbers signing on the live register last month. This is the second consecutive monthly increase in the number of people signing on, although the figure is 25,000 lower than in April 2000. The Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Ahern, blamed the foot-and-mouth restrictions for the sharp increase which exacerbated the rise in temporary layoffs during the Easter holidays, normally picked up in the April figures.
"My Department received almost 1,000 unemployment claims as a result of the foot-and-mouth crisis up to the end of April.
"I am confident that, with the restrictions now lifted, people who have lost their jobs or who rely on seasonal employment, will be back at work very soon," he said.
The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) noted the April figures showed the largest increase since April 1996 and expressed concern that restrictions to prevent foot-and-mouth disease could yet push the figures even higher in the coming months.
General secretary, Mr Tony Monks, said the full effects of foot-and-mouth would not be seen until the end of the summer.
The Small Firms' Association warned it would be foolish to ignore the latest increase in unemployment because, in the medium term, we could not guarantee the Irish economy would be able to create jobs to replace those that had been lost.
