“All the talk of emerging from recession will mean nothing to ordinary people unless the ongoing jobs crisis is tackled.

“It certainly means nothing to the 10,662 people that sign on the dole in Tallaght Social Welfare office or the 444,900 unemployed state wide.

“Sinn Féin has put forward more than 80 proposals to retain and create jobs including a €300 million jobs retention fund to subsidise small and medium sized enterprises and a youth jobs fund to create 20,000 jobs for the young unemployed. We have called for investment in infrastructure, the fast tracking of business start ups and the creation of a sales Ireland strategy.

“We have shown how these proposals could be funded but the Government has opted to cut public spending rather than invest in job creation and job retention initiatives. This has led to further job losses, pay cuts and a drop in consumer confidence. It has doubly punished those who have lost their jobs as social welfare rates have also been cut.

“It is time for a change of direction but, that won’t happen with this Government.”

“They continue to reward, employ and support with tax-payer’s hard earned money those who created the crisis in our economy. The jobless queues are getting longer and the sad reality is that there is no real hope of a job recovery for most of them.”