Jim O'Keeffe
Question:63 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on the increase in unemployment; and her proposals in this respect. [3285/02]
Written Answers. - Unemployment Levels.
The latest quarterly national household survey for the third quarter 2001 shows that the unemployment rate increased to 4.3%, or 79,500 persons, from 3.7% in the previous quarter. The current rate of 4.3% is the same as it was 12 months previously and compares with a rate of 10.3% in 1997.
The long-term unemployment rate remained static at 1.2% or 22,100 persons in the third quarter of 2001. In the same quarter a year earlier, the LTU rate was 1.4%, while in 1997 it was 5.6%. The latest seasonally adjusted live register total for January 2002 is 156,300. This compares with 138,100 a year earlier and 263,900 in January 1997.
In 2001, there was a significant turnaround in the live register, with substantial monthly falls in each of the previous three years being halted. The bulk of the live register increase has taken place since September 2001. Employment increased by 48,700 in the year to the third quarter of 2001. The latest employment figure of 1,786,600 compares with 1,379,900 in 1997. The Department of Finance in its stability programme forecasts employment growth of 1.4% and an unemployment rate of 4.75% in 2002.
The recent increase in unemployment is due in the main to global economic factors such as the fallout from the atrocities in the US on 11 September and the downturn in the technological sector. There is a general view that unemployment will rise in 2002 but that good economic and employment growth will return in the medium term.
As notified in Ireland's employment action plan, EAP, 2001, the main elements of employment policy are to promote employment growth and employment for all who seek it; to mobilise labour supply, including through increased female participation, equal opportunities and a balanced increase in immigration, in order to contribute to a consistent, strong, sustainable and non-inflationary level of economic growth; to enhance labour quality through education, training and in particular lifelong learning in order to strengthen the employability of individuals and to promote competitiveness and adaptability in firms; to promote the economic and social inclusion of excluded persons, eliminate long- term unemployment and prevent future drift into long-term unemployment.
Given that the rise in unemployment from historically low levels is expected to be short-term, and that good employment growth is expected to resume over the medium term, I intend to continue to pursue these policies.
I acknowledge that there will be challenges in the next year as jobs are lost and workers seek new employment, but the medium-term labour market forecast remains positive and I am confident that Ireland will continue to create new jobs in manufacturing, construction and services in the period ahead. FÁS, which has a budget of €870 million in 2002, will continue to work to ensure that anyone who is seeking employment will have the opportunity and skills to do so. FÁS is well placed to prevent skills that become available through redundancies being lost to the economy and to put people who become unemployed in touch with job opportunities quickly.