Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 16 September 2016
1905. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the details of jobs multiplier models used for employment forecasts by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26427/16]
View answerIreland’s enterprise strategy, Enterprise 2025 is premised on delivering employment that is sustainable over the longer term. As a small open economy, sustainable long term growth is predicated on growth fuelled by foreign earnings derived from exports. It is important to note that an export led strategy is not just about exporters. In addition to generating greater wealth than would be possible through only domestically trading activities, there is a substantial ripple effect in terms of job creation throughout the entire economy and in an increase in skills and management development, technology adoption, innovation, standards and best practice overall. That is why the enterprise development agencies place a strong emphasis on promoting linkages with the domestic economy when they are negotiating with investors and in their assessments of proposals seeking state support. The agencies have well developed methodologies for assessing the direct and indirect impacts of investments made.
The employment multipliers are derived from the Supply and Use and Input-Output tables for the Irish economy published by the CSO and cover all sectors of the Irish economy. Sectoral multipliers for employment are derived from these tables and then applied to IDA client firm employment data. The employment multipliers used include direct, indirect and induced impacts of agency client firm activity (known as Type II Multipliers), taking account of demand on the suppliers and so on down the supply chain as well as induced impacts arising through the additional consumption that takes place as a result of the additional employment incomes created through the indirect impacts. It should be noted that Type II Indicators should be interpreted with caution, as they assume that all additional income generated through indirect employment is spent. Based on a robust methodology, sectoral employment multipliers were calculated and applied to the sectoral employment data of agency client firms.
Employment multipliers are best estimates and may be subject to small changes over time based on structural adjustments in the economy and the composition of the agency client firm base.
