Jobs figures good but economic change necessary

9.25.12am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 14th Sep 2006

Alliance Spokesperson on Youth Affairs, Ian James Parsley

Alliance Party spokesperson on youth affairs, Ian James Parsley, has said positive job figures are good news for Northern Ireland - but fundamental economic change is necessary to keep heading in the right direction.

The North Down Councillor, a member of the North Down Economic Development Forum and of the Federation of Small Businesses, stated: "The ongoing reduction in Northern Ireland unemployment - which is consistently bucking the UK-wide trend - is positive news. Having more people in work is in itself essential to political stability, and a symbol of how far we have progressed despite the lack of progress in some areas.

"However, the figures only tell us about the quantity of jobs - the quality of jobs is a different thing altogether. Many families across Northern Ireland with graduates still unable to find appropriate employment will be wondering where all these jobs are! And just in the last few days, we have seen loss of industry from Antrim, loss of call centre employment from Belfast, and indeed loss of agriculture-linked jobs just over the border.

"We need to focus on attracting high-quality jobs to Northern Ireland, as that is the only way we will keep high-quality people here. By so doing, we will be able to create the wealth that enables us to sustain full employment without the huge public subsidies, most of which will end over the next decade."

ENDS