Dep Peter Burke says Fine Gael delivered on its job commitment

Dep Peter Burke said Fine Gael has continued to deliver on its commitment on jobs.

According to the Fine Gael TD for Longford Westmeath, the party has delivered over 3,000 new jobs in the midlands in the last year.

“The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office reveal that in the Midlands region, employment has increased from 114,000 to 117,400 in the last year. This is an increase of 3,400 jobs. This is very positive news and proof yet again of Fine Gael’s commitment and success in creating the environment to get people back to work,' said Dep Burke.

“This is not just a Dublin based recovery as some would have you believe. In the Midlands, unemployment has fallen by 8,900 since the launch of the Action Plan for Jobs. In percentage terms, this represents a really significant decrease of 37%. Thankfully the CSO figures show this trend continuing with unemployment falling from 16,200 to 14,300 in the last year (Q1 2015- Q1 2016), a decrease of 900 or 5.6%.

“The national unemployment rate is now at 7.9%, the lowest since November 2008 and firmly below the European average. The long term unemployment rate is down from 6% to 4.7% in the year and the new jobs are mostly full time positions.

“Across Ireland, 155,000 new jobs have been created since the Action Plan for Jobs was launched in early 2012 and the Programme for Government has reaffirmed the Action Plan for Jobs as the best way to implement ideas on job creation across Government. With 15,400 new jobs created in the first three months of 2016 we are off to a great start in meeting Fine Gael’s target of 200,000 new jobs by 2020.

“Each new job created in the Midlands is another family looking forward to a brighter future. Each new job created by a business is a sign of returning confidence and growth to our region. Crucially, job creation brings more tax resources into the State, which Fine Gael is committed to using to fix the many challenges we face as a society.

“This Partnership Government is determined to maintain the good progress on job creation that was started by the previous Government. We are continuing to prioritise job creation because we believe that only a strong economy, supporting people at work, can pay for the services needed to create a fair society. Helping people back into work will lead to greater equality of opportunity, where our people can plan confidently for the future.”