The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has said that new figures showing Ireland had slipped back into recession "confirm all our worst fears about the destructive policy path being followed by government and are a sharp reminder that we need a very clear change of course."
Speaking after figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that Ireland was again in recession, Congress General Secretary David Begg said: "As each new false dawn steadfastly fails to materialise, policymakers have to start listening to what the evidence tells us. These figures serve to confirm our worst fears about the policy path being followed. We have an opportunity with the coming budget to signal a significant change of course," Mr Begg said.
He said Congress was particularly alarmed by analysis from the Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI), of the latest CSO data.
'the NERI analysis reveals a fall of 3% in personal consumption in the first quarter of this year – the biggest fall in any quarter since the start of the current recession. In addition, investment has fallen by 7% in the first quarter.
'these confirm a negative trend evident since the middle of 2012 where output, investment and consumer spending has either been flat or falling."
Mr Begg said NERI had recently outlined an alternative budgetary approach for the coming years that would save jobs and boost domestic demand.
