Written Answers. - Job Creation Statistics.
Mary O'Rourke
Question:
135
Mrs. O'Rourke
asked the
Minister for Enterprise and Employment
if he has satisfied himself with the method of calculation used by Forbairt for the compilation of job creation figures by indigenous firms in view of the fact that it appears that the rehiring of staff by TEAM Aer Lingus counted as job creation in Forbairt documentation.
[3978/96]
Forbairt has furnished me with details of how it arrived at its job creation total for indigenous industry for 1995 and, having reviewed same, I am entirely satisfied with the method used by the agency in calculating this figure.
Forfás undertakes an annual employment survey on behalf of IDA Ireland and Forbairt of all their client companies. This survey records job gains and job losses to produce a "net" job creation result for the agency for the year. This system has been in operation since 1972. It clearly identifies and distinguishes between first-time jobs and job recoveries. A first-time job is any increase during the year from the peak employment in a company in the previous five years, arising from a specific investment programme agreed with Forbairt. Job recoveries, on the other hand, relate to jobs lost and subsequently recovered — they are clearly singled out as such and are not counted as first-time jobs. The following table illustrates the performance of Forbairt's client companies in 1995. All the figures refer to permanent employment.
|
Total Employment
|
120,432
|
|
First-time Jobs
|
7,129
|
|
Jobs Recovered
|
3,559
|
|
Total Gains
|
10,688
|
|
Total Losses
|
8,542
|
|
Net Change
|
2,146
|
In relation to the specific instance of TEAM Aer Lingus, which the Deputy raises in her question, the following is the case. In 1992, the company had 1,986 permanent employees. At the end of 1994, permanent employment had dropped to 1,453 as a result of the firm's well-known difficulties. During 1995, some staff who had been laid off at the end of 1994 (and therefore not included in the 1,453 figure) were re-employed, bringing permanent employment up to 1,698 at the end of 1995.
The 245 people re-employed in TEAM were not included in the first-time jobs figure announced by Forbairt for 1995 as TEAM is still below its peak of 1,986 permanent jobs achieved in 1992, but have been included in calculating the figure published by Forbairt in respect of 1995 relating to the net change in employment during the year.
There is, therefore, no double counting of jobs. In the year to year employment change, the bottom line is reflected as a net gain or loss. In the period 1992 to 1994, TEAM contributed a net job loss of 533 and this was reflected in Forbairt's net change figures for those years. Similarly, the net change figure for 1995 reflects the recovery of 245 jobs, previously counted as a loss.
