The continued fall in retail sales graphically illustrates how austerity has eroded domestic demand and highlights the urgent need for a major stimulus and investment programme, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has said.
Responding to the news that annual retail sales are down by 2.1%, Congress Economic Advisor Paul Sweeney said: "The figures are a cause for grave concern and show an economy that continues to slide, continues to contract. In real terms, that means people losing jobs and businesses going under.
"The austerity ideology has failed in Europe and it has failed in Ireland. These figures confirm that the Government must be far less passive and actively pursue a major programme of stimulus and investment, to boost demand, create jobs and instil some hope in people," Mr Sweeney said.
He pointed out that Congress has already published proposals - Delivering Growth & Jobs - outlining how a stimulus could be financed without adding to general Government debt.
"We envisage that over €10 billion could be invested over three to four years and this could create some 100,000 jobs. The counsel of despair from some agencies, which says we can do nothing, should not be heeded," Mr Sweeney said.
