Vol. 468 No. 4
33 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Taoiseach if he will provide the best available estimate of the full-time equivalent number of persons involved in part-time employment based on the 152,400 part-time employees documented by the 1995 Labour Force Survey; and if he will provide an updated estimate of the total number of unemployed people based on that figure. [16039/96]
It is estimated from the 1995 labour force survey that there were 1,115,100 persons in full-time employment, working an average of 43.8 hours per week. There were an estimated 152,400 persons in part-time employment working on average 18.8 hours per week. The majority of these, 126,600 or 83 per cent indicated that they were not looking for work on a more full-time basis. The time worked by part-time workers is equivalent to that of about 65,400 full, time workers.
This does not alter the estimated level of unemployment which, like the employment estimates, is based on the internationally recommended ILO definitions. Under the ILO definitions, all persons who worked for one hour or more for payment or profit in the survey reference week are classified as in employment. Persons who, in the week before the survey, were (1) without work, (2) currently available for work and (3) had taken specific steps to find work in the preceding four weeks, are classified unemployed.
