Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 January 2016
90. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach further to Parliamentary Question No. 76 of 15 December 2015, the estimated number of unemployed persons who are not on the live register; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46814/15]
View answerThe exact information requested by the Deputy is not available.
The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) is the official source of estimates of unemployment in the State and the seasonally adjusted number of persons (aged 15-74) unemployed as of the third quarter of 2015 was 197,100. While the QNHS provides quarterly benchmark estimates of unemployment, the CSO also publishes monthly unemployment estimates. The latest seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment figures for December 2015 indicate that the number of unemployed persons aged 15-74 years in that month was estimated to have been 190,600.
The primary classification used for the QNHS results is the ILO (International Labour Office) labour force classification. The classification for unemployed persons includes those persons aged 15-74 years who, in the week before the survey, were without work and available for work within the next two weeks, and had taken specific steps, in the preceding four weeks, to find work. The QNHS does not capture a respondent's status as measured by the Live Register.
The Live Register is compiled from returns made for each local office to the Central Statistics Office by the Department of Social Protection. It comprises persons under 65 years of age in the following classes:
All Claimants for Jobseeker's Benefit (JB) excluding systematic short-time workers.
Applicants for Jobseeker's Allowance (JA) excluding smallholders/farm assists and other self-employed persons.
Other registrants including applicants for credited Social Welfare contributions but excluding those directly involved in an industrial dispute.
It should be noted that the Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment as per the ILO unemployment classification used by the QNHS.
It includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseeker's Benefit or Allowance.
