Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 November 2016
167. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of public sector workers by county, the total number of employees in the public and private sectors by county and the total number of public sector employees by county as a percentage of total employed in the public and private sectors by county, in each of the years 2005 to 2015 in tabular form. [36822/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn relation to the Civil Service, my Department holds information on numbers employed by county and I will forward the details to the Deputy's office under separate cover. For the public service as a whole, individual level data - such as relating to location - is not held centrally by Department rather it resides as part of the individual employee data record held and maintained in different sectors of the public service. The Deputy may wish to follow-up with the main sectoral Departments, such as Health, Education, Defence and Justice to ascertain the availability of this information in each case.
In terms of that element of the Deputy's question relating to private sector employment, The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) is the official source of employment estimates in the State and is conducted in line with relevant European regulations for the conduct of labour force surveys.
The labour market estimates produced by the QNHS are designed to meet strict quality criteria set down by EUROSTAT, which specify the level of statistical accuracy that these estimates must achieve at national level. The CSO also produces regional labour market estimates from the QNHS (NUTS 3 regions) which is beyond the level of regional detail (NUTS 2 regions) required by EUROSTAT. It is not possible to produce robust county level estimates from the current QNHS data. Achieving representative samples at county level on which to base labour market estimates would require a substantial increase in the number of households interviewed and the number of field interviewers required to interview them. The main source of detailed county and small area level information is the Census of Population. The Census asks respondents to declare their Principal Economic Status (PES), which classifies their usual situation with regard to employment, and includes the categories of employed and unemployed, amongst others. A detailed analysis of the change in 'PES' between 2011 and 2016 will be available at county level and below when the 2016 Census results are published in 2017.
