Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2001

Vol. 545 No. 5

Written Answers. - Jobs Statistics.

Michael Ring

Question:

99 Mr. Ring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of job losses since January, broken down on a month by month basis and by location; the number of jobs created since January; and the locations where the jobs have been created, broken down on a month by month basis and location. [31140/01]

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ms Harney)

In the period 1 January to date a total of 18,258 proposed redundancies were notified to my Department under the Redundancy Payment Acts, 1967 to 1991. A breakdown of these redundancies on a month by month basis and by location is provided in the following Appendices I and II.

With regard to job creation for the current year, the information requested by the Deputy is not yet available. The Forfás annual employment survey is carried out in November of each year. This survey will give details of all jobs created and lost in IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Shannon Development and county enterprise boards assisted companies for the period 1 November 2000 to 31 October. The preliminary fig ures for this survey will not be available until year end.

Up to recently the agencies remained optimistic about this year's performance by forecasting 21,000 new jobs and a net employment increase of 11,000. We are all aware of the unforeseen factors which have arisen, namely foot and mouth disease, the escalation of difficulties in the IT industry and most recently the tragic events in the US. These factors have combined to significantly moderate the agencies' expectations for the current year. While Forfás expects overall job creation to remain strong at about 19,500 the net employment increase has been revised significantly downwards to 2,400, the bulk of this adjustment being due to increased job losses in foreign owned firms, particularly those based in the US.

While any deterioration in these figures is disappointing the fundamentals of our economy remain strong. I am confident that we can withstand the present downturn and remain an attractive location for both foreign direct investment and indigenous firms. To this end the Government is continuing to focus on enhancing the country's skills base, improving our infrastructure network, shaping the regulatory environment and encouraging companies to move up the value chain.

Appendix I – Redundancies since January 2001 by month basis

January	1,426
February	1,053
March	1,495
Apri1	1,791
May	1,633
June	1,636
July	2,000
August	1,514
September	1,488
October	1,729
November	2,493

Appendix II – Notified Redundancies by Area Code for

Period 01/01/2001 to 30/11/2001

NMS Area: Athlone

County	Male	Female	Total
Laois	92	44	136
Longford	51	42	93
Offaly	115	263	378
Roscommon	33	31	64
Westmeath	171	117	288
Area Total:	462	497	959

NMS Area: Cork

County	Male	Female	Total
Cork	1,342	646	1,988
Kerry	139	74	213
Area Total:	1,481	720	2,201

NMS Area: Dublin

County	Male	Female	Total
Dublin	4,769	3,403	8,172
Kildare	299	152	451
Meath	90	69	159
Wicklow	185	151	336
Area Total:	5,343	3,775	9,118

NMS Area: Dundalk

County	Male	Female	Total
Cavan	51	37	88
Louth	429	188	617
Monaghan	102	34	136
Area Total:	582	259	841

NMS Area: Galway

County	Male	Female	Total
Galway	420	350	770
Mayo	187	84	271
Area Total:	607	434	1,041

NMS Area: Limerick

County	Male	Female	Total
Clare	387	265	652
Limerick	598	489	1,087
Tipperary	173	121	294
Area Total:	1,158	875	2,033

NMS Area: Sligo

County	Male	Female	Total
Donegal	228	215	443
Leitrim	33	21	54
Sligo	68	84	152
Area Total:	329	320	649

NMS Area: Waterford

County	Male	Female	Total
Carlow	82	47	129
Kilkenny	81	55	136
Waterford	323	268	591
Wexford	421	139	560
Area Total:	907	509	1,416

Grand Totals:10,8697,38918,258