Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The number of people who are unemployed has not escaped my notice. I hope it will not escape the Deputy's notice that we are making some modest progress in this regard. The quarterly national household survey - which is being published about now - will show that during the past year the private sector has created over 2,000 jobs per month. That is in stark contrast with the 250,000 jobs that were lost in the three years before we took office. The survey will also show that, for the first time since we came to power, the unemployment has dropped below 14% and stands at 13.7%. That is still too high, particularly in view of the fact that so many young people are unemployed.

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