25,000 have lost their job since May - Gilmore tells Dáil

Posted on July 09, 2008 at 02:22 PM

Once again Government cutbacks were the main topic of Leaders' Questions this morning in the Dáil. The Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore urged the Taoiseach to tell the House the full picture of what exactly the Government intends to do before the House goes into the summer recess.

He said: "Only a small part of the picture of what the Government has in store for the people of the country over the coming months. It would appear the announcement made yesterday was packaged for public relations purposes.

"Instead of having this drip drip feed of sneaky cuts and stealth taxes emerging during the summer months, I am asking the Taoiseach if we will tell the house the full picture of what the Government intends before the summer recess of this House."

As well as calling for the Taoiseach to explain the full extent of the cutbacks to the House Eamon pressed the Taoiseach on the plight of those who have lost their jobs in recent months.

"What is in this package to address the needs of the people who are suffering most from the downturn in the economy and these are the people losing their jobs.

"Since May 2 when you became Taoiseach over 25,000 people have lost their job, that is nearly 600 for every working day that you have been Taoiseach. Those people are entitled to know what you are going to do to get them back to work and secure their future."

The full debate will be available later on the Oireachtas website and as usual you can see Eamon's contribution on the video.

Tagged with Finance