merrion street

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore T.D., today welcomed the fall in the unemployment rate to 12.1% in the fourth quarter of 2013 and, in particular, the decrease in long-term unemployment to 7.2%.

The latest CSO employment figures show that an additional 61,000 people were in work by the end of 2013 than was the case a year earlier, bringing total employment to more than 1.9 million people.

The Tánaiste said:

“These latest employment figures demonstrate the success of the Government’s Pathways to Work and Action Plan on Jobs strategies. When this Government came to office, we were losing 7,000 jobs a month – now we are gaining 5,000 per month.

We can afford at this stage to be far more confident about our prospects than at any time since the crisis began. It is now time to focus on the future, on finishing the job of economic recovery, of creating jobs, and of building a better post-crisis Ireland.

Promoting our international trade, tourism and investment is a key part of this plan. The embassy network works hand-in-glove with the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the other State agencies to increase trade and investment which means good jobs for Irish people.

As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Chair of the Export Trade Council, I launched the Review of the Government Trade, Tourism and Investment Strategy earlier this week which will help to ensure that the resources of the State – both the embassy network and State agencies – are positioned to deliver maximum overall benefit for the economy and more jobs at home."

ENDS

NOTE TO EDITORS:

• The CSO release on Quarterly National Household Survey Quarter 4 2013 is available at this link

• The Review of the Government Strategy for Trade, Tourism and Investment is designed to ensure that the State coordinates its efforts overseas in a manner which yields the best possible economic return