Vol. 474 No. 1
28 Miss Harney asked the Minister for Social Welfare the total number of officers in his Department who are involved in the administration of unemployment benefit and unemployment assistance; if there has been any decrease following the recent fall in the level of registered unemployment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2375/97]
The total number of officers in my Department who have an involvement in the administration of unemployment benefit and unemployment assistance is over 2,000. This includes headquarters, regional and local office staff. Many of the staff concerned also have an involvement with other social welfare schemes.
From the beginning of September to the end of December 1996 there were some 128,000 movements of persons off the live register as compared with some 111,000 movements on to the live register, giving a net decrease of over 17,000 in the number of persons registered as unemployed. This compares with an increase of over 4,000 for the same period in 1995. The total number registered as unemployed at the end of December 1996 was 270,146 which is some 15,000 less than in December 1995.
Following substantial decreases in the numbers registered as unemployed in the months of September, October and November there was an increase of just under 7,000 in December 1996. However, this increase was due to seasonal factors and the seasonally adjusted figure for December fell by 1,700.
