Vol. 561 No. 4
144 Ms Enright asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her plans to address the fact that the live register figures for five of the six local offices in counties Laois and Offaly have all increased for the period from January 2002 to January 2003; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4458/03]
The live register figures for both counties increased by 316 over the past year. The live register is not an accurate measure of unemployment. It includes part-time workers, seasonal and casual workers who are entitled to unemployment assistance or benefit. Unemployment is measured by the quarterly national household survey, QNHS. Laois and Offaly form part of the midlands for statistical purposes, along with Longford and Westmeath. The following table from the latest quarterly national household survey shows the main labour market data for the region.
Main QNHS for Midlands Region
|
In employment |
Unemployed |
In Labour Force |
Unemployment rate |
Participation rate |
|
|
% |
% |
||||
|
3rd Quarter 2000 |
87,600 |
5,300 |
92,900 |
5.7 |
57.4 |
|
3rd Quarter 2001 |
91,400 |
4,100 |
95,600 |
4.3 |
58.1 |
|
3rd Quarter 2002 |
93,900 |
4,100 |
98,000 |
4.2 |
58.8 |
145 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of jobs lost in the past 12 months; the net number of new jobs created; her plans to address the emerging trend; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4526/03]
The issue of job creation is a day to day issue for the enterprise development agencies of my Department and is one in which I have no direct function. In the 12 month period from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2002 a total of 44,394 job losses were recorded by all the enterprise development agencies. The number of jobs created by the agencies during this period was 35,263.
The strategies of the enterprise development agencies, the two main ones being IDA Ireland for foreign direct investment and Enterprise Ireland for indigenous industry, are firmly fixed on building and providing the infrastructure for high value added and knowledge intensive industries. In regard to foreign direct investment, the number of new investments secured by IDA Ireland in 2002 was up by two thirds on 2001, with 55 new projects in manufacturing and international services negotiated by the IDA during 2002 compared with 33 in 2001. These projects are committed to creating 8,700 new jobs as they come on stream over the next few years. In addition, the IDA Ireland strategy of delivering 50% of all new greenfield jobs approved to the objective one regions was more than achieved in 2002.
Enterprise Ireland has identified a number of key factors which impact on the employment levels within its indigenous client companies namely, the weak international trading environment, the weakening competitiveness of companies due to pressure on wage bills, packaging costs, insurance premiums and oil prices and the strengthening euro against both the US dollar and UK sterling. Enterprise Ireland will continue to work closely with clients to seek to minimise the negative impact of these factors by encouraging and supporting new high potential start up companies, developing exports, increasing innovation and improving competitiveness with existing clients and by the development of incubator space through webworks, IT incubation centres and community enterprise centres.
IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland's commitment to regional development is stronger than ever and, with the national spatial strategy now in place, both agencies are determined to see the emergence of strong magnets of attraction in each region and are working in strong partnership with other organisations at national and local level to influence the delivery of projects to the regions.
