Unemployment surged in April as the impact of the Covid 19 crisis took hold on the economy.
CSO figures show the rate of unemployment rose from 16.5% in March to 28.2% in April.
This takes account of those in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Benefit.
More than half of those unemployed are aged 15 to 24.
Chief Economist with KBC Bank, Austin Hughes says this creates a particular difficulty.
"A lot of these will become detached from the workforce for a very long period of time.
"Younger workers have little experience of the jobs market in the early years out of college or school, it makes them less employable in the longer term."
