Government 'ignoring' jobs crisis

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) has accused the the Government of ignoring the jobs crisis and failing the 435,000 people who are currently out of work.

Ictu general secretary David Begg said the Government was not working, and seemed "utterly transfixed" by the banking crisis. He called for the jobs crisis to be given equal importance to that of the banks.

"There appears to be a bottomless pit for the senior bankers that caused
this mess — and the jobless are told to wait in line, literally," he said in a May Day address.

"For there to be any sense of justice or of a burden being shared, Government must move with urgency to give the jobs crisis equal billing with the banking crisis."

He said the claims of existing recession were "meaningless" until people were back in employment.

"Even enlightened self interest should tell them that we will not even begin to recover until employment starts to pick up," he said.

He said the Government had not acted on proposals from Ictu on how to protect and create jobs.