Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 April 2024
273. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which employment has fluctuated in the agri-food and fishing sectors in the past five years to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18724/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department continually monitors the levels of employment in the agriculture and wider agri-food sector. Employment figures are primarily sourced from the Central Statistics Office's (CSO) quarterly Labour Force Survey. Quarterly data is available to the end of 2023 currently.
Looking at trends over the period 2019 to 2023, employment in the overall agri-food sector has grown by approximately 4.4% or 7,400 to 173,400 people. This represents 6.5% of the total workforce as of 2023. The average numbers employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing were 101,200 in 2023, (+2,100 over the period 2019 to 2023) with a further 52,200 employed in the manufacture of food products (+3,000). There were another 7,300 employed in the manufacture of beverages (+600) and about 6,000 are estimated to be employed in the wood and wood-processing sector.
It should be noted that the Labour Force Survey is based on the main employment a person reports in the survey. Where a part-time farmer reports their off-farm job as their main employment, they will not be recorded as working in primary agriculture. Teagasc in their annual National Farm Survey outline that up to 40% of farm holders have off-farm employment as of 2022, while 59% of farm holders and/or their spouse has an off-farm employment.
It is also important to note that while the overall level of employment from these sectors is 6.5% of total employment nationwide, the proportion of employment outside Dublin is much greater. For example, while "Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing" (i.e. primary agriculture) accounted for 4.0% of total employment in 2023, this was as low as 0.2% in Dublin and as high as 8.8% in the Border region. Employment in the agri-food sector remains hugely important.
