asked the Minister for Labour if he will make a statement on research and data collection undertaken by his Department or agencies under his control on the unemployment situation; and if he will give details of the projections and conclusions reached.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Unemployment Research and Data Collection.
18.
The Central Statistics Office have primary responsibility for the collection and dissemination of statistical information in relation to unemployment and employment such as the monthly live register and annual labour force surveys. Other bodies, such as the Central Bank and the Economic and Social Research Institute, also undertake reviews of economic developments including employment and unemployment projections.
Neither my Department nor their associated manpower agencies produce independent forecasts for unemployment but consider the implications of projections made by outside sources for the labour market and the development of manpower policy and programmes. The most important research exercises carried out by the Department include the annual school leavers survey, the followup survey of school leavers and the analysis of trends of earlier surveys. In addition the Department analyse data relating to manpower programmes such as those published in their annual reports. They also conduct periodic surveys to evaluate particular programmes and schemes.
Does the Minister think that there is merit in the suggestion that the various research units at present involved in compiling information on unemployment and employment opportunities for the future should be centralised? As I understand it, at the moment there are a number of research units under the Youth Employment Agency, AnCO, the Department of Labour, a section of the Department of Education, a section of the Department of Industry and Commerce, and God knows where else. Information about them is not easily or readily available in any one or two reports. That information is collected and is paid for by the taxpayer. It would seem that a proper modern research unit with access to modern technology, which most of them have not got, would be in the interest of the Department.
I am not sure that I agree with the Deputy because people undertake research into the labour market for different reasons. We are speaking about 1.2 million people and I am not aware that there is any difficulty in regard to that information or that the results of the research have been withheld from one group by another. My worry about centralisation is that, while it looks neat and tidy on paper, the researchers would probably spend more time arguing with each other about how to go about the research than carrying it out. While I understand the sentiments of the question, there is no proof that his proposals would necessarily be more efficient. We need greater knowledge and a detailed picture of the labour market and its components and certainly at this stage I could not agree with his suggestion.
I accept the Minister's reply as I do not know enough about the matter to argue further. Could the various agencies be compelled by the Minister involved — not just the Minister for Labour — to issue an annual report in line with the Department of Labour who were able to publish theirs in four months and on which I congratulate the Minister? Some agencies tend to circulate some of these reports which contain vital information and which are paid for by the taxpayer three or four years late which is of little benefit to those studying the problem. Perhaps they could be forced to issue their annual report four or five months after the end of the year.
I agree with the Deputy and I thank him for the compliments to the Department who are responsible for publishing the report. In so far as I have departmental responsibility in the Department of Labour and the Department of the Public Service, I will try to ensure that the reports are produced as quickly as possible.