Vol. 568 No. 1
212 Mr. Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the approximate number of employees in the retail food sector for each of the past three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15696/03]
The most recent years for which figures are available are 1999 and 2000. I am informed by the Central Statistics Office that the number of persons employed in the retail food sector in 1999 was 52,014, and the figure in 2000 was 53,717. Figures for earlier years were compiled under a different format according to the CSO.
As regards the 52,014 employed in 1999, 21,882 were full-time employees and 30,132 were part-time; 53,717 employed in 2000 comprised 21,744 full-time employees and 31,973 part-time. These figures are based on the Nace classification where enterprises are classified according to their principal activity. They do not, therefore, include enterprises for which the retail of food is a secondary activity.
