The Live Register in Waterford increased by 3.7% for the month of November which was the smallest monthly rise in the country for that period.

Although Waterford did not escape the increases in those seeking benefit, the 3.7% rise was far smaller than that of Kerry, which came with the largest increase of the 26 counties with nearly 11% more signing on.

Overall, 347 more people signed on for some form of state benefit in Waterford with the majority of this monthly increase coming in the city areas.

The total Live Register numbers in Waterford now stand at 9,786 which is an increase of over 3,400 people in the last year. Of those 9,700 plus people claiming benefit, over 6,500 are male while over 5,175 are men over the age of 25.

The news comes as the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mary Hanafin, that five additional members of staff will be appointed to the Waterford Social...
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Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, last week announced the establishment of a high-level Group to renew the strategic framework for Irish tourism development, set out in "New Horizons for Irish Tourism: an Agenda for Action 2003-2012.” The Tourism Renewal Group will examine the current tourism policy and programme priorities, with a focus on the challenges, and will set out a framework for action to assist in ensuring that tourism continues to be a major industry for Ireland. The Minister has requested the Group to complete its work in the first half of 2009.

The Minister announced that well-known businessman and former President of IBEC, Maurice Pratt will chair the Tourism Renewal Group. Other members of the Group include representatives of the tourism trade, national and international experts and senior public servants.

Minister Cullen also published the Report of the Tourism S...
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Smart Telecom, the next generation broadband provider, welcomed last week the new Epitiro report that ranks Smart as the 'Best performing Internet Service Provider in Ireland' but warns that a new concerted broadband push is now required and ComReg must act in the best interest of consumers and drive infrastructure based competition, in particular in LLU.

It is no accident that the top two performing providers in the Epitiro report are the two largest providers of Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) in Ireland, yet LLU only accounts for a few percent of all broadband connections. This flies in the face of international best practice that has seen LLU become a major success in top performing countries such as France and the UK. This inactivity comes despite repeated warnings from alternative operators, such as Smart Telecom that Ireland was suffering as a result. The findings of the Epitiro report reinforce this argument.

Waterford hoteliers has welcomed the allocation by Bank of Scotland (Ireland) of €1 billion in credit facilities to customers, including €100 million for the hotels sector. The Waterford branch of the Irish Hotels Federation states that this is an extremely positive move that will assist hoteliers and guesthouse owners trade through the current challenging economic climate and sets a model for other financial intuitions to follow suit.

Damien Lynch, Chairman, IHF South East branch, states, "The move will give a much needed boost to the economy and relieve pressure being experienced on the ground by hotels, which require substantial seasonal banking facilities. Bank of Scotland, previously ICC Bank, has historically been a major provider of credit for the hospitality sector and has for many years been a dynamic banking force meeting the needs of hotels and guesthouses around the country. Its management continu...
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