Vol. 409 No. 9
6 Mr. Farrelly asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications if he will outline (a) the number of jobs created this year to date in the tourism area and (b) the number he expects will be created in the full year; and the way these figures compare with last year's figures.
Official estimates of the number of jobs sustained by tourism are prepared annually, as soon as final figures for tourism performance and the annual balance of payments are available from the Central Statistics Office It is, therefore, too early to provide an outline of the number of jobs created to date in the tourism area in the current year.
The targets for tourism set in the Programme for National Recovery for the five year period 1988 to 1992 include the creation of 25,000 new jobs. At the end of 1990, estimates for employment sustained by tourism activity stood at 80,000 jobs, up over 16,000 on the 1987 figure. The target for tourism employment in 1991 is 85,000.
I am very disappointed that the Minister has not seen fit to give us an estimate of the number of jobs created to date. I asked how many jobs were created last year and the Minister bulked the figure with the total amount of jobs at 80,000 in 1990. Of the 25,000 jobs per year, how many were created last year? Surely the Minister must have some estimate, given that he made a speech only last week saying that 15,000 jobs would be created this year. We are nearly half way into this year and surely we must have some estimate.
The number of jobs created since 1987 is approximately 15,000. That is from about 65,000 in 1987 to about 80,000 now. The estimate for this year is 5,000 jobs and I understand that target will be met.
If the Minister had given that reply in the first place I would not have had to ask that supplementary question. What effect will the increase of 2.5 per cent VAT on food in the budget have on job creation in the hotel industry this year?
These figures were included in the Programme for National Recovery. As the Deputy knows, a target figure of 15,000 new jobs have been set for the period of the programme. Those figures are being met so I do not accept that situation will have an appreciable effect on them.
Of the 5,000 jobs that will be created this year, what number have been created to date? That was in the original question.
We are only half way through the year. I do not have a figure as at the end of May but I can tell the Deputy that the target figure of 5,000 was met last year and the year before. All the informal estimates from the industry are that we are on target for 5,000 additional jobs in the tourism industry by the end of 1991. That is the best I can do.
