Data on the levels of employment in the economy is compiled by the Central Statistics Office on a quarterly basis through their Quarterly National Household Survey. This survey measures the total numbers in employment and the total number of people unemployed each quarter and records the net annual change in these categories.
Figures in respect of the number of jobs created or lost in firms assisted by the enterprise development agencies, IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development, are compiled annually by Forfás and published in the agency's Annual Employment Survey. Details of the number of jobs created in agency-assisted companies in 2009 and 2010 set out on Table 1. These are the last two years for which complete information is available.
Full data for 2011 will not be available until later this year. However, the IDA has already indicated that it supported the creation of 13,000 new jobs in 2011 and the number of jobs lost in its client companies decreased, resulting in a net increase of over 6,000 jobs. Enterprise Ireland has indicated that employment in its client companies stabilised last year.
Building on these positive results, I am currently finalising an Action Plan for Jobs for Government approval which will set out a series of clear actionable measures across Government to support the creation and retention of jobs across the economy. As well as setting out specific measures to support jobs growth, the Action Plan will seek to address key factors which can act as obstacles to job creation and retention. These include issues such as costs of doing business, access to finance, administrative burdens on business, the need to improve company capability and access to new markets.
Table 1 — Full Time Job Gains/Losses in Enterprise Development Agencies
|
2009
|
2010
|
|
Job Gains
|
14,272
|
17,582
|
|
Job Losses
|
45,927
|
23,704
|
|
Net change
|
-31,655
|
-6,122
|
Source: Forfás Annual Employment Survey
