Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 March 2014
7. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide a breakdown of the 61,000 jobs the Government says were created in 2013; the categories of the economy in which they were created; the number that are zero-hour contracts, that is, less than 19.5 hours per week; and the number that are full-time. [12172/14]
View answer33. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide a breakdown of the 61,000 extra jobs which were supposedly created last year; the number that were full-time positions; and in which sectors. [12140/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 33 together.
The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) for the Fourth Quarter of 2013 was published by the Central Statistics Office on 27 February. The Survey showed that 61,000 extra jobs had been created in the economy year-on-year compared to Quarter 4 of 2012. This was the fifth Quarter in succession where employment has grown on an annual basis. Employment increased in ten of the fourteen economic sectors classified by the CSO. The largest rates of increase were in
- Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, increased by 26,800 jobs;
- Accommodation and Food Services, saw an increase of 17,400 jobs;
- Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities increased by 13, 000 jobs;
- Industry employment increased by 6,400;
- Health and Social work increased by 3,900.
Increases were also recorded in other sectors, including Education, +1,600, Administration + 1,300 Transport and Constructon.
I am advised that the CSO does not currently collect data on zero-hour contracts. However, the QNHS figures show that full-time employment grew by 54,300 in Quarter 4 of 2013; while part-time employment increased by 6,600, so 90% of net new jobs are in full time employment.
The enterprise sector is now creating employment faster than any other State in the EU or the OECD. I am encouraged by the fact that most of the jobs that are being created are full-time and many are in sectors which we have targeted in the Action Plan for Jobs. However, we are not being complacent. There are sectors, particularly Construction, Retail and related sectors, that were hit particularly badly by the economic downturn and which have not yet recovered in terms of employment, even since 2011. We must do more to help these sectors to re-build, and the 2014 Action Plan for Jobs, which was published at the end of February, places a focus on supporting these sectors of the domestic economy.
