Vol. 458 No. 5
54 Mr. E. Byrne asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the total number of redundancies reported to his Department during the first nine months of 1995; the comparative number for the same period in 1994; the proposals, if any, he has for reducing the number of redundancies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17236/95]
The number of proposed redundancies notified to my Department during the first nine months of 1995 was 9,509. The total for the corresponding period in 1994 was 11,843. The figure for the first nine months of 1995 represents a decrease of approximately 20 per cent on the figure for the corresponding period in 1994. It is projected that the annual total for 1995 will be the lowest annual total for many years.
While many factors have contributed to the reduction in the number of redundancies, the figures undoubtedly reflect the effectiveness of measures taken to date to protect employment. Further initiatives currently under way as part of the strategic management process in my Department include the preparation of a series of medium term strategy papers on all aspects of enterprise development and the labour market as well as a white paper on training. The thrust of these initiatives is to achieve a further improvement in the climate for enterprise, raising labour force skills and promoting the employment intensity of growth. Such developments will clearly impact on the level of redundancies and on the prospects for re-employment where redundancies are unavoidable.
