asked the Minister for Finance if, in view of the situation revealed by the February unemployment figures and the further job losses announced, he will outline as an emergency measure, the Government's plans to reverse the appalling trend.
119.
Written Answers. - Unemployment Situation.
118.
asked the Minister for Finance if he will give details of his action programme if any, that exists, to halt and reverse the rising trend of unemployment as stated in the Coalition Programme for Government.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 119 together.
Live register figures which have become available since February indicate a considerable improvement in the numbers registered as out of work. At end-May 1984, the live register total stood at 207,804, having fallen from 215,981 at end-February 1984. More significantly, the live register, which on a deseasonalised basis had increased continuously since the end of 1979, showed a slight seasonally adjusted decrease in March and a substantial seasonally adjusted fall of 2,500 in May.
The `Programme for Government' of December 1982 recognised that the unemployment problem could be solved only through the restoration of stability to the public finances and an improvement of our competitive position. The Government have already adopted policies which have resulted in a steady reduction in both the current budget deficit and Exchequer borrowing as a percentage of GNP. As regards competitiveness the Government statement on pay policy set out a number of criteria which should be taken into account by parties to pay negotiations this year and indicated the Government's view that giving priority to employment requires a long pay pause followed by a pay increase of not more than a few percentage points.
Apart from substantial expenditure on on-going programmes to generate employment the Government have introduced a number of innovative employment creation schemes including the enterprise allowance scheme, and pilot job sharing and career break schemes in the civil service. Further employment measures will be set out in the forthcoming national plan.