The Workers’ Party has accused the government of being indifferent to the spiralling unemployment figures and being totally fixated with the self-inflicted troubles of the banking institutions.

Workers’ Party President Michael Finnegan was reacting to the latest Live Register figures published today (Wednesday) which show another 20,000 people have joined the dole queues during the month of March.

“Every month the equivalent of the population of a large Irish town is being added to the unemployment figures.  It now stands at almost 400,000 and is rapidly heading towards half a million which is five times the figure that Jack Lynch once said would be a resigning matter for any Taoiseach”, said Mr. Finnegan.

“The government continues to shovel hard earned workers money into shoring up an utterly corrupt banking system with such an insatiable hunger for more that it threatens to very fabric of our society.  We are being dragged into a poverty trap which may take generations to get out of and at the same time those who created the crisis – the banking and financial elite – refuse to take any pain”.

“Next Tuesday the government is set to roll out an emergency budget which will dig an even deeper grave for the Irish working class with swingeing cuts in essential services and nothing other than cosmetic measures to show the rich are hurting too when in fact they continue to prosper and offer Fingleton style contempt for those who are paying the piper”, said the Workers’ Party president.

Issued Wednesday 1st April 2009