Dole lines cut by almost 1,500

THE number of people signing on in Kerry has fallen by almost 1,500 in the last year.

According to the latest Live Register figures published by the Central Statistics Office there were 9,406 people signing on in Kerry in February, a drop of 1,457 on February 2017.

Last month’s total also represented a drop of 174 on January 2018.

The Tralee register – which also includes claimants from the greater Castleisland area – accounted for two fifths of the Kerry total with 3,972 people on the register there, a decline of 563 on last year.

In Killarney there were 1,653 people on the register compared with 1,888 in February 2017.

There were 1,619 on the register in Listowel compared to 1,982 last year.

In Dingle there were 445 on the register as opposed to 506 at the same time last year. In Killorglin there were 703 on the register, down from 821 a year earlier, while 445 people were on the register in Kenmare compared with 506 in February 2017. The Cahersiveen register had 403 names, down slightly from 434 last year.