asked the Minister for Labour whether his Department have made a detailed survey into the causes and extent of unemployment in this country; and, if not, whether he will order such a survey to be carried out.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Unemployment Survey.
14.
A detailed survey of the kind mentioned has not been made but I have been considering, in consultation with the Economic and Social Research Institute, the question of undertaking a substantial research project on unemployment. The matters to be covered in such a project are under discussion.
The live register and the various analyses of it which are published periodically do, of course, contain a great deal of information about the extent and nature of unemployment. My Department has also carried out labour availability studies in some 20 areas in connection with the industrial development programme.
Would the Minister not agree that there is a need for a survey of the causes of unemployment and that it should have been tackled long ago? Unemployment has reached serious proportions and one would think a survey on the lines suggested should have been undertaken a long time ago.
The studies which have been carried out and to which I have referred have certainly revealed that the live register figure, while it is a guide to the trend from week to week, is anything but reliable as to the availability of workers in a particular area. This has emerged very clearly in connection with the location of factories in particular areas. Where the live register shows a certain number of people you can always be sure that the number available for work in a particular factory is much less than that.
It would not be much less?
Considerably less.
You could not say it would be half?
In some cases I have known it to be less than half.
Surely the numbers available for employment can be got from the local employment exchanges?
What I am saying is that these figures, in so far as they conform with the figures on the live register, are not an accurate index at all of the people actually available for work.
Would the Minister explain that further? Does he mean to suggest that the people now signing at employment exchanges are not necessarily available for work?
Yes, that is right.
Why?
There are a number of factors involved. I would draw the Deputy's attention in particular to the survey that was done in Drogheda some years ago and which highlights a number of factors. Twenty of these surveys were done in different areas. That is my experience as a former Minister for Industry and Commerce.
Is the Minister now telling us that the figures for unemployment do not mean——
The Deputy need not try to put words into my mouth. I did not say that.
I am trying to get the Minister to say something.
The Deputy is trying to get me to say something that I did not say.
Would the Minister consider that some figure, such as the number of people unemployed for six months or more, should be available so that we might have a more accurate idea of the extent of unemployment? Also, when he says some people are not available, is it not a fact that deciding officers have said that married women with children are not available for work even though they apply for employment? The Minister may be basing his facts on decisions made by deciding officers who have the final say in the matter.
No, what he is probably saying is that there are many people signing at the exchange who are not able to work. If that is so, they should be put on a special allowance in some way.
Deputy Tully may not be too far off the mark.
Would that mean you could not compare one year with another?
We do not mind comparisons with previous years provided they go back far enough.
(Interruptions.)
Provided you go back to 1945 when there were 145,000 unemployed under Fianna Fáil.
We must move on with questions.
How far back must you go?
We do not mind how far back you go.
(Interruptions.)