Vol. 395 No. 9
14 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for Labour if he had any discussions with the Federation of Irish Employers and/ or the Confederation of Irish Industry regarding his remarks that the private sector are not creating sufficient jobs; and whether the Federation of Irish Employers and the Confederation of Irish Industry agree with his figures on the net numbers of jobs claimed to have been created in the private sector in 1989.
I would refer the Deputy to my reply in the House in response to similar questions on 6 December 1989 in which I acknowledged the contribution made by the private sector to the process of job creation over the past number of years.
I met with representatives of employers organisations in early December to review the rate of employment generation and to identify obstacles to increased employment. In addition, I attended the national council lunch of the CII in mid-December to discuss the same issue.
In his address to the CII North Dublin regional conference last week, the direc-tor-general of the CII estimated that net job creation in the private business sector was 34,000 during the two years to April 1989. This figure corresponds very closely to official estimates, derived from the 1989 Labour Force Survey results, showing an increase of 35,000 in non-farm private sector employment over the same period.
Would the Minister not agree that there is something wrong with the arithmetic because, despite all the claims about job creation — whether they come from the employers' organisations or from members of the Government — the Central Statistics Office report shows that there were 1,000 fewer people at work in 1989 than there were in 1988? We know also from the Central Statistics Office that 46,000 people emigrated in the year to April 1989 and that there is a need for some sort of reconciliation of the figures, claims and coun-ter-claims in order to find out what is really happening on the employment front in the knowledge that not enough is happening?
The Labour Force Survey provided the official estimate available on net job creation in the private sector during 1989. The Labour Force Survey showed a net increase of 10,000 jobs in total employment between April 1987 and April 1989. On those figures — and this has been generally agreed — one has to make allowances for a decline of 20,000 jobs in public sector employment over the same period. There was a progressive decline in the numbers working in agriculture and a lower intake from schemes. Net job creation in non-farm private sector employment seems to be of the order of 35,000 based on the Labour Force Survey. That has been agreed by a number of bodies. One could also look at other official figures which show that long-term unemployment up to April 1989 fell by 6,500, a fairly small number. I have not taken into account in any of the estimates or discussions unofficial surveys because, quite frankly, it depends on who is surveyed and I do not think they could be taken as reliable. On the official survey the facts have to be taken into account, that is there has been an increase of 60,000 jobs in the last two years and the unemployment register has declined by about 25,000 and the long-term unemployment figure fell by 6,500.
Let us not forget we are dealing with Priority Questions to which a rigid time limit applies.
Does the Minister not see the need for reconciliation and an official study of these figures? He has thrown into the cauldron a certain number of claimed job creation figures. Would he give, for instance, the definition of a job? This is something that must be clarified because many of these so-called jobs are 15-hour week and part-time jobs. Would he not also admit that he was wrong in the figures he claimed for the reduction in the unemployment register when he said it was reduced by 25,000 in the past two years when the unemployment register is down by 11,000, only one-quarter of the number who emigrated in the past two years?
I had hoped for brevity.
The figures I am quoting are from the Labour Force Survey. I am taking into account some of the factors that led to those figures. They are agreed.
How many are part-time jobs?
In the official CII figures it is estimated that gross job creation in the business sector over the two years 1988-89 amounted to 34,000. There are lots of indications as to what will happen this year, but I am not speculating on any of those figures.
I am calling Question No. 15.
Unfortunately those figures do not add up.
