Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have a technical question. Last week I asked a question about the increase in employment in the area of agriculture, fishing and forestry, but I received a reply giving me a figure for the increase in employment in the agri-industry, food and fisheries. The area of agriculture, fishing and forestry is a separate CSO heading, but the reply included the figure for the agri-industry.

According to the CSO figures, the numbers employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing have increased hugely over the last few years. As the saying goes, I may be a gullible man but I do not believe that one. The CSO keeps telling us that it is only partly so because of the way data collection has changed. Can we accept that there is no increase and, if anything, there is a decrease in direct employment in agriculture? I am not talking about the agri-industry but about agriculture, forestry and fisheries. There are no more people engaged in those primary industries than there were two years ago.