THE number of people out of work in September fell by 2,900 after seasonal adjustment to 281,400, according to figures issued yesterday.
The September live register figures published by the Central Statistics Office show the figure for the numbers unemployed fell by 8,857 but, when seasonally adjusted, represent a decrease of 2,900. It is the second consecutive month that the figures have fallen. However, the seasonal figure is 2,500 higher than the comparable figure for last year.
The live register includes part-time, seasonal and casual workers entitled to unemployment assistance or benefit.
The Minister for Social Welfare, Mr De Rossa, welcomed the figure, saying it was a significant decrease. He said while there was no doubt the publicity surrounding the recent CSO study highlighting social welfare fraud had had an impact upon the figures, there were other factors. These included people employed in schools or colleges returning to work, people starting or returning to education and the return to work, after summer holidays, of a number of firms.
He said: "This is a welcome development but it is only the beginning. The package of measures agreed by the Government and now being implemented is designed to ensure that this trend continues and that systematic and opportunistic abuse of tax payers' money is rooted out."
The tax system placed an unfair burden on people earning low wages. The burden had to be lifted and ever greater incentives must be created for people to take up work. He said his Department would be engaging in an information campaign which would highlight the various pro-work incentives available which enabled unemployed people to take up employment opportunities while legitimately retaining social welfare supports.
The fall in the figures was also welcomed by Mr Erie Byrne TD, Democratic Left, who said he hoped the Budget would consolidate and expand the mechanisms already developed by the Government to focus resources and jobs on unemployment blackspots in urban areas.
He said that despite the fall for the second consecutive month long-term unemployment remained unacceptably high.
It was clear, he said, that the Government's job-creation and job-maintenance policies, together with improved control measures to prevent fraudulent dole claims, were starting to have an impact on the live register.
The Fianna Fail spokeswoman on enterprise and employment, Ms Mary O'Rourke, said she welcomed the fall in the live register. However, despite all the publicity about social welfare fraud, the figure was 2,500 higher than it was a year ago.
Unemployment was not going away despite all the headlines. The State continued to have the highest rate of long-term unemployment in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. A quarter of those unemployed were on the live register for more than three years.
There would have been no need for a second advertising campaign for the schemes and expenditure of another £500,000 if the first campaign had been followed up with intensity by the Government.
The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed welcomed the small fall in the seasonally adjusted unemployment, but in a statement said that the figure remained higher than last year.
The fall reinforced the argument that reform of the welfare system and better information about escape routes from the black economy trap were the most effective answer to fraud. Small falls in unemployment and concerns about fraud were, however, marginal issues compared to the underlying scale of the unemployment problem.