Vol. 419 No. 1
2 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Taoiseach if he will outline, (a) the number of those aged 55 or over who, in March 1992, were listed under the pre-retirement allowance and pre-retirement credits, (b) the total number registered as unemployed including those on PRETA and PRECS in March, 1992 and (c) the percentage of the workforce represented by that figure.
There were 7,597 persons on the Pre-Retirement Allowance scheme (PRETA) and 3,786 persons on the Pre-Retirement Credit scheme (PRECS) on Friday, 27 March 1992. The combined total of those on the PRETA and PRECS schemes and those on the live register on the same date was 290,593 persons. This figure represents 21.8 per cent of the workforce as estimated in the April 1991 Labour Force Survey. I would point out, however, that persons on PRETA and PRECS are properly excluded from the live register on the basis of a declaration they make that they have retired from the labour market.
The Minister has just told us that in March 21.8 per cent of the workforce including those over 55 were registered as being unemployed. The April figure is seasonably adjusted by another 6,700 so we are now close to 23 per cent. Would the Minister of State not accept that in order to have proper comparisons those over 55 should be included in the registered figures each month, as they have always been included, until this Government started massaging the figures in the last couple of years.
I do not accept that at all. The people who go on both those schemes go on a voluntary basis and exclude themselves from the live register on that basis. They are not available for work.
Would the Minister of State not agree that we need more than a backbench committee to deal with unemployment, given the scale of the problem?
The questions tabled by the Deputy are essentially statistical, and matters of policy ought not therefore arise.
