Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 17 May 1990

Vol. 398 No. 9

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

Ruairí Quinn

Ceist:

63 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Social Welfare , in respect of each employment exchange in the Dublin region, if he will give the numbers signing on and receiving (1) unemployment benefit, (2) unemployment assistance and (3) long-term unemployment assistance; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Social Welfare (Dr. Woods)

The information requested by the Deputy, in so far as it is available, is given in the accompanying table.

The number of those who are actually in receipt of a payment is not readily available by employment exchange. However, the number in payment would normally amount to approximately 95 per cent of the numbers signing on the live register. Similarly, the number of long-term recipients of unemployment assistance at each employment exchange is not readily available. Approximately 80 per cent of all unemployment assistance recipients are long-term recipients.

The following table gives the number of persons signing on for unemployment benefit and unemployment assistance at each employment exchange in the Dublin region at 27 April 1990.

Employment Exchange	Unemployment Benefit	Unemployment Assistance
Ballymun	490	2,128
Clondalkin	914	2,310
Cumberland Street	3,664	6,700
Dún Laoghaire	1,866	2,918
Gardiner Street	1,534	6,113
Kilbarrack	1,082	1,494
Navan Road	1,724	4,950
Rathfarnham	1,285	1,602
Tallaght	1,495	3,584
Tara Street	1,070	2,239
Thomas Street	860	4,305
Townsend Street	495	688
Victoria Street	754	1,422
Werburgh Street	1,307	4,634
Total	18,540	45,087

Source: Live register summary sheet, Central Statistics Office.

Ruairí Quinn

Ceist:

64 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Social Welfare , in respect of the member States of the European Community for the years 1985 to 1989 inclusive, if he will indicate (1) the number unemployed, (2) the number of dependants of the unemployed, (3) the number of farmers and (4) the number of dependants of farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Social Welfare (Dr. Woods)

The total number of unemployed persons in EC countries for the years 1985 to 1989 is set out in the accompanying Table 1. These figures refer to those registering at employment offices/exchanges. Information on the number of dependants of unemployed persons in other EC member states is not available. The number of persons who are in receipt of unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance in Ireland and the number of their dependants is set out in Table 2.

Details of the number of farmers in EC countries, as distinct from the numbers engaged in agriculture, are not available. Table 3 sets out the number of farmers in Ireland. It is not possible to determine the number of household members who are dependent on them. However, details are presented of the number of children under 18 years of age in farm households.

Table 1

Annual Average Number of Unemployed Pesons in EC Member States, 1985-1989

Member State	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
	(000s)	(000s)	(000s)	(000s)	(000s)
Belgium	557	517	501	459	419
Denmark	242	212	216	240	263
West Germany	2,305	2,223	2,233	2,237	2,032
Greece	85	108	110	109	118
Spain	2,642	2,759	2,924	2,858	2,550
France	2,458	2,517	2,622	2,563	2,532
Ireland	231	236	247	241	232
Italy	2,959	3,180	3,317	3,833	3,926
Luxembourg	3	2	3	3	2
Netherlands	761	711	686	432	391
Portugal	342	368	319	306	312
United Kingdom	3,220	3,284	2,953	2,370	1,799
Eur. 12	15,805	16,117	16,130	15,562	14,576

Source: Eurostat.

Table 2

Number of Recipients of Unemployment Payments in Ireland and the Number of their Dependents, 1985-1989

Year	Number of Recipients	Number of Adult Dependants	Number of Child Dependants²	Total Dependants²
	(000's)	(000's)	(000's)	(000's)
1985	226.2	101.9	234.0	335.9
1986	223.2	97.1	234.6	331.7
1987	228.5	78.9	262.4	341.3
1988	231.3	78.7	259.4	338.1
1989	218.8	74.8	247.4	322.2

Source: Statistical information on social welfare services (various issues). Department of Social Welfare.

The number of recipients differs from the numbers signing on the live register, principally because those signing on the live register for credits are not in receipt of a payment.

Because two half child dependant allowances can be paid in respect of one child, there is some double counting of the number of child dependants.

Table 3

Estimated Number of Farmers in Ireland and the Estimated Number of Dependant Children 1986-1988

Year	Number of Farmers	Number of Dependant children¹
	(000's)	(000's)
1986	134.4	178.5
1987	120.0	157.4
1988	121.9	161.5

Source: Derived from a special tabulation from the labour force survey conducted by the Central Statistics Office. The data are subject to sampling errors.

Defined as less than 18 years.