Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The point is that when seasonal factors are taken into account, the month-on-month increase is 800, whereas it is important to note that the equivalent month-on-month increase for November last year was approximately 16,200. If the Deputy is asking whether something approaching a bottoming-out is evident, thankfully we are not experiencing the rate of job losses that took place this time 12 months ago. This of course constitutes a continuing challenge for this country as it seeks to regain competitiveness in a context in which international markets are less buoyant than was the case previously.

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