I understand that the live register figures for the numbers unemployed for the month of June will be published later this morning. Does the Taoiseach have those figures and if so will he inform the House on the number of people who are now on the live register?

The figure is expected to be 13.4%, up from the May figure of 13.2%. Due to seasonal factors, the live register rises every June without exception. The increase this year is considerably less than the increase in June last year of more than 21,000. Based on seasonally adjusted figures from the Department of Social Protection, the increase in June is expected to be approximately 5,800. The overall figures include more than 63,000 people who work part time and more than 23,000 people who sign on to claim credits. Participation in the back to education allowance scheme has doubled this year and more than 5,600 of the inflow in the first three weeks of June are from this scheme. The figure to be announced by the Central Statistics Office is 452,882.

Plus emigration.

That is the highest number of people ever unemployed in the State. It is 300,000 more than were on the live register when the general election took place in May 2007. It is 100,000 jobs lost each year that the Government in its present form has been in office, and 2,000 jobs lost each week. This is not counting the number of people who have left the country as immigrants who have gone home and young Irish people who have emigrated to Australia and elsewhere.

The biggest crisis that the country is facing at present is the level of unemployment. Two weeks ago, I stated that according to the CSO figures, 40% of those who are out of work have been out of work for more than a year. One in every three young men in the workforce is out of work. It impacts on the level of poverty experienced by households and the self-esteem and morale of the individuals out of work. It is the cause of huge worry to parents who wonder whether their children will get work or whether they will have to emigrate. It also impacts hugely on the public finances because every person out of work represents a cost of approximately €20,000 to the State through tax lost and social welfare payments.

When will the Government take seriously the issues of unemployment and getting people back to work? The number quoted by the Taoiseach on the increase in the back to education allowances is marginal compared to what is happening. The unemployment exchange in my constituency is beside a college of education with a cap on the number entering. Increased numbers of people are out of work. No active measures are being taken by the Government to get people back to work and very little is being done to get them into education and training.

This is the issue with which we are dealing on an ongoing and daily basis and the only way in which we can create more jobs is to make our economy more competitive. We have had this discussion on a number of occasions. Jobs will not be created in a vacuum and will not be created on the basis of letting our public finances go out of control. They certainly will not be created by the contention that we should not try to repair the banking system, which is fundamental. The real issue and the contention being made by the Deputy is that no efforts are being made by Government. It is very much the contrary. All actions of Government are about making sure that growth comes back to the economy and in the second half of this year it has been confidently predicted that it will. Indeed, from the last quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year some finance houses have suggested that growth is returning.

The road back to recovery will be difficult and hard. We know that and we want to get back on that road as quickly as possible. The difficult decisions that we are taking have to be taken and are absolutely necessary. Despite the disappointing figures this morning, I draw the Deputy's attention to the household survey which is the measure of employment in the country. It is not correct to say that 450,000 are unemployed in the country. There are 287,000 who are drawing unemployment benefit for five days. There are 63,000 people who are working part-time and 23,000 people who are claiming credits. Of the people who are applying for unemployment benefit whose applications are currently being processed, 20,000 are on supplementary welfare allowance. These figures are for the purpose of putting the facts in place.

I do not suggest for one moment that there is any degree of satisfaction or complacency about these figures but we will only turn this around on the basis of doing the job of work which the Government is engaged in, reducing our costs, getting exports going, as we are doing, and making sure that people can sell goods and services in the marketplace in order to maintain the jobs we have, take on part-time people in due course and then turn those jobs into permanent jobs. That is the way back for this economy and it is the only way back. We have to put our public finances in order in doing that.

If we did not do that we would not be able to fund the deficit we have or maintain the services which, we have seen, are under pressure this morning. We would not be able to continue as a country to work our way through this over the next number of years and get this country back to work. Everything that we do is about trying to make sure that we get growth back into this economy. It is coming in the second half of this year. We have to hope that there will not be further turbulence in the markets. There is no room for complacency here, week in and week out. We are doing everything.

In regard to the activation measures, it is simply not fair to suggest that we are doing nothing about it or are indifferent to it. We have doubled the number of training places to 157,000 compared to 60,000 in 2008. On the point made by the Deputy about post leaving certificate courses offered in the adjoining institution to the employment exchange in his constituency, looking at the national figure in 2010 almost 40,000 learners will participate in full-time further education and a range of schemes or programmes with an estimated 125,000 learners participating in part-time programmes. One of the reasons there is a rise in the June 2010 figure is that those in receipt of the back to education allowance, which is suspended until September as it accords with the school year and which has been doubled this year, are obviously coming back onto the register and are in receipt of unemployment benefit until the back to education allowance returns. That is a measure of the activity in that scheme and not inactivity.

Everything that can be done to promote activation and find opportunities for people to up-skill and train is being done. Increased resources are being applied. At the end of the day, unless we continue along the road we are on to secure our children's future and do as we are doing it in the necessary way, we will put all of that at risk and we do not intend to do that.