Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Taoiseach has informed the House, in response to Deputy Kenny, that the country now has the highest number of people unemployed ever in our history, with almost 328,000 people unemployed. Last week I asked the Taoiseach what was the cost to the Exchequer of additional people being unemployed, between social welfare payments and lost tax revenues. The Taoiseach sent me a reply, which I received this morning, setting out those costs.

He informed me that the 120,000 extra people who lost their job in 2008 brought about a total cost in social welfare terms of €1,386 million for a full year and the cost in terms of lost tax is approximately €960 million. When the figures are worked out, that comes down to every job lost in the Irish economy costing the Exchequer €20,000 per year. The additional 36,500 who lost their jobs in January will cost the Exchequer €730 million in a full year.

For the past number of months and yesterday, everybody has been fixated on cutting public expenditure. I acknowledge that public expenditure must be addressed but to be frank, we are looking at the wrong problem. The problem that the Government needs to consider and that everybody, including commentators, must look at is what is happening in terms of lost jobs.

See this speech in context