Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

My next point is an observation. The labour market figures contained in the SPU are obviously very welcome. It is fantastic to see the unemployment rate decrease and the numbers at work increase. One of the details hidden in the figures is the difference in the rates for men and women. We all know the unemployment rate for men rocketed owing to the construction bubble. However, one of the things the unemployment figures reveal is that the unemployment rate for women has not moved. While the last figures I saw were a few months old, the rate for women is getting marginally worse, whereas all the increase we have seen in recent quarters is among men. Many of the targeted budgetary issues to stimulate construction - for example, the tax relief on extensions to houses - are targeted towards men.