asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he can state the total number of persons who drew unemployment benefit during the fifth benefit year, the number who exhausted their benefit and continued to register for employment at the Employment Exchanges after the exhaustion of benefit during the same period, the number who claimed benefit since the commencement of the sixth benefit year, the number who have since exhausted all benefit to which they were entitled, and the percentage of such claimants who have continued to register for employment after the exhaustion of benefit: whether his Department has formed any estimate of the extent to which the total number of unemployed exceeds the number registered by the Employment Exchanges, and whether any steps are being taken to devise means of ascertaining with reasonable accuracy the full number of unemployed.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE STATISTICS.
DOMHNALL O MUIRGHEASA
The total number of persons who were allowed unemployment benefit in the fifth benefit year was 61,923. Of these, the number who exhausted their benefit rights in that benefit year was 33,017. Some of those continued to register for employment after their benefit was exhausted, but the exact number cannot be stated, as persons registering for employment are classified on the basis of the work applied for and not their previous benefit position. The total live register, however, exceeded the number of claims current by a weekly average of about 7,600 throughout the benefit year. The number of persons who have claimed benefit from the commencement of the sixth benefit year up to the 4th January, the latest date for which figures are available, is 40,967. Of these, 9,524 had exhausted all the benefit to which they were entitled by the 5th January, the latest date for which figures are available. As already explained, I cannot state the percentage of these who continued to register for employment, but the average weekly difference between the live register and the number of claims current in the sixth benefit year up to the 18th January was 10,206, equal to 33 per cent. of the total weekly average number of persons registered as unemployed.
Ample means are provided through registration at the Exchanges, available to every unemployed person, for determining the full number of unemployed. I could not justify the labour and expense that would be involved in searching for unemployed persons who do not register.
Will the Minister take some steps to bring before the unemployed the necessity of registering for employment? Does the Minister not think that it is desirable that he at least should be in a position to state the total number of unemployed in the country, and not to have figures appearing in the Press which are totally misleading?
I cannot see how I could indicate to the unemployed the necessity for registering, if their own state does not indicate that it is necessary for them to use the means available.
Am I to understand that the Minister is satisfied with the present position and that he does not intend to take any steps to ascertain the total number of unemployed in the country?
It depends on what the Deputy means. Ideally one might think it better to have some means of determining the actual number of unemployed on any particular date, but whether people should be driven to make use of the means now available to them is another question. I must abide by the answer I have given, that I cannot justify any further labour and expense in searching for unemployed. If there is anything that can be done through the medium of the present Exchanges that will not involve—I will not say any labour— any great additional labour on those employed in the Exchanges or any further expense that could be done.
Does the Minister not consider that, in a matter of such importance as this, it should not be a question of a little extra expenses or a little labour; that any extra expense that would be entailed would be justified, in view of the importance of this matter?
I have to view this from two aspects. From the point of view of statistics there may be some better way of getting it as a result of the Statistics Bill now going through. From the point of view of my Department and the public, I look on it this way: There is a Vote annually for my Department of somewhere in the region of £360,000 for all the services administered by that Department. Nearly a quarter of a million of that is due to unemployment insurance, between contributions, administration, and everything else. With such a heavy burden I must have very good reasons given to me before I add even a penny to it.
Will the Minister consider the advisability of adding a question to the Census Paper with regard to this matter?
That suggestion can be put to the Minister in charge of the Census.