Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 December 2019
51. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons on the live register who had previous stated employment in the construction sector; the breakdown of the figure for areas termed as unemployment blackspots; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50365/19]
View answerIn the October Live Register published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), 31,296 people reported that their last held occupation was in the construction sector. This represented 17.3% of the total Live Register.
Over 57% of those who previously worked in the Construction sector are considered short-term unemployed, while just under 43% have been on the Live Register for more than one year.
Measurement of unemployment is solely the remit of the CSO, and the CSO’s Labour Force Survey is the official measurement of unemployment in the state. Neither the Live Register nor the so-called "unemployment blackspots" can be used to measure unemployment in the state.
The concept of “unemployment blackspots” was developed by the CSO following the 2016 Census, and was based on Census 2016 data, specifically electoral districts with 200+ people in the labour force on Census night 2016. It did not use the internationally accepted methodology for the measurement of unemployment.
My Department does not collect data at the electoral division level, and so I am unable to answer this part of the Deputy's question. If the Deputy would like information on the number of former construction workers on the Live Register broken down by county, officials in my Department will be happy to oblige.
