Figures suggesting that unemployment in the south-east is increasing have been disputed by the Department of Enterprise and Employment.
An analysis of the latest live register figures by the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) showed the south-east was the only region to record a rise in unemployment last month.
A Department spokeswoman, however, claimed the INOU's analysis ignored a substantial drop in unemployment in the region last year.
The region has the second-highest jobless rate in the State, at 6.7 per cent, according to the quarterly national household survey, behind only the Border region. The INOU says the live register gives a clear indication of the numbers of families and individuals relying on State assistance.
Its analysis of the April live register figures showed an increase of 0.4 per cent. The Department spokeswoman said this was 85 people, while there had been a drop of 3,300 people on the live register in the south-east in the year to April.
Using the household survey measurement there had been a drop of two percentage points, from 8.7 per cent in December 1998, in unemployment in the region last year - the biggest decrease in the State. The Government had made job creation in the region a priority, she added. The INOU analysis shows that the south-east is not getting its share of economic growth, with 9.9 per cent of adults in Waterford and 9.4 per cent in Wexford on the live register, compared to a national average of 6.7 per cent.
The organisation's general secretary, Mr Tony Monks, said the INOU, through the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, had demanded that " `interregional disparities' in job creation would be addressed by Government. The people of the south-east need to see some real action by the Government to address this problem."
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