Vol. 541 No. 3
140 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the number of people who are employed at an Údarás na Gaeltachta assisted factory (details supplied) in Belmullet, County Mayo; and if she will give comparative figures of employment levels for each month since January 2001. [21576/01]
The Deputy will recall that in my answer to a similar question put by him on 30 May 2001 – Parliamentary Question No. 213 refers – I stated that the detailed information sought, being a day-to-day operational matter, was primarily an issue for the undertaking itself and for Údarás na Gaeltachta and would not normally be provided in a reply to a parliamentary question. However, the information sought by the Deputy at the time was requested by an tÚdarás from the company as an exceptional measure and was provided in the reply to that parliamentary question. An tÚdarás will, in the normal way, be seeking information regarding staffing levels in the company for its year-end survey of Gaeltacht employment. This information will be available before the year end.
As the Deputy was informed in reply to his question of 30 May, in the week ending 18 May 2001, a total of 112 workers – 40 full-time and 70 part-time – were employed in the business. I understand from an tÚdarás that it is satisfied with the company's progress since then as regards employment creation. It would be unrealistic to expect an tÚdarás to have information on a monthly basis in respect of this or any other company under its aegis and, accordingly, it is not proposed to ask the company to provide comparative employment figures monthly from last January.
