Vol. 573 No. 2
26 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of new jobs created in the past 12 months; the number of jobs lost in the same period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24561/03]
Employment in firms assisted by the enterprise support agencies is collated by means of an annual employment survey. Information in respect of 2003 is not yet available as the survey is under way. However, we do have figures for 2002 showing the total employment, gross job gains and gross job losses for the year, which are extracted from the Forfás business information system, BIS. The BIS records numbers employed in all clients of the agencies – IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Shannon Development and Údarás na Gaeltachta. BIS employment data is updated on an annual basis, with employment relating to November-December of each year. Employment data is not updated on a more regular basis.
While overall employment levels in Ireland increased marginally in 2002 as a result of job creation in the public sector and other locally traded sectors of the economy, employment in firms in the more exposed internationally traded manufacturing and service sectors contracted by about 3% in 2002. Companies supported by the development agencies created more than 25,000 permanent full-time jobs in 2002, a strong achievement in the context of difficult economic conditions. However, these employment gains were outweighed by job losses of just over 35,000, as the economic downturn impacted on firms' ability to sustain and expand employment in the face of the global economic slowdown. While I take this situation seriously, the Deputy should note that this still represents a 50% increase in employment on ten years ago.
