Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 October 2013
29. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on the fact that part-time employment is accounting for a very significant proportion of new jobs being created in the economy; the way firms can be encouraged to take on more full time employees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42723/13]
View answerEmployment is now increasing across many sectors and occupations, both in full-time and in part-time employments. The latest information from the Quarterly National Household Survey shows an annual increase in employment of 1.8% or 33,800 in the year to the second quarter of 2013, bringing total employment to 1,869,900. This compares with a decrease of 1.3% in the year to Q2 2012. The QNHS data shows that the increase in total employment of 33,800 in the year to Q2 2013 was represented by an increase in full-time employment of 21,600 (+1.5%) and an increase in part-time employment of 12,100 (+2.8%).
The signs of recovery in employment – and especially in the creation of more full-time jobs – are supported by the job creation figures of IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland for their client companies in 2012. Ireland’s enterprise development agency client companies cumulatively created nearly 9,000 net jobs in 2012. Total permanent full-time employment in agency-assisted companies operating in all sectors amounted to 294,785 in 2012, a net increase of 8,975 jobs (+3.1 per cent) on employment levels in 2011 and continues the trend of positive growth in employment following three consecutive years of employment losses between 2007 and 2010.
Total full-time employment among Irish-owned companies amounted to 144,964 in 2012, an increase of 3,228 jobs (+2.3 per cent) on the previous year. Among foreign-owned companies, total full-time employment amounted to 149,821 in 2012, an increase of 5,747 (+4 per cent) on the previous year. Foreign-owned part-time employment also increased, by almost 600 jobs (+3.4 per cent) in 2012, whilst Irish-owned part-time employment levels increased marginally.
The data from the enterprise agencies confirm that the vast majority of the additional jobs in grant-assisted companies were full-time jobs. We are seeing a pattern as we come out of the recession where initially the first signs of recovery were reflected in an increase exclusively in part time employment. Although job losses continue to be experienced in declining sectors such as construction, the positive results from the enterprise development agencies in 2012 underscores the merits of the Government’s focus on innovation and export-driven sectors under the Action Plan for Jobs to create employment.
In 2012, the total net full time jobs created in CEB assisted companies was 256 while the total net part time jobs created in CEB assisted companies was 769.
The Government incentives which we are putting in place are very much geared towards creating full-time employment rather than part-time employment. JobsPlus is a new employer incentive which encourages and rewards employers who recruit jobseekers on the Live Register to fill full-time positions. The Action Plan for Jobs identifies a number of key targeted sectors in the Manufacturing and Services areas with the potential to create significant sustainable employment. The Action Plan identifies the challenges facing each sector and sets out the measures required to ensure these sectors achieve their potential. Ensuring that all of the measures in the 2013 Action Plan - and in the Action Plans for subsequent years - are implemented will provide the best means of ensuring that employment opportunities are maximised in each sector.
