Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

Do the statistics indicate a casualisation of labour? To what extent does the CSO collect statistics on how casualisation of employment affects women? Are there separate statistics to show whether the gap between the rise in incomes and the rise in inflation in 2005 is more pronounced among women workers? Are specific statistics available on the average number of hours being worked by employees in this category? Anecdotal evidence indicates that a significant and increasing number of people work fewer than 19.5 hours per week, the threshold under which employment is classified as casual. In light of the shift towards a seven day, 24 hour economy, are statistics available on the days on which persons in this category work? Many of those engaged in this type of work are women casually employed in large multiple stores.

In 2005, the Government, through the Central Statistics Office, announced that the number of people in employment had increased by 95,000 over the previous year. Given that the number of taxpayers did not increase by a similar number, does this indicate that a considerable gap exists between the types of jobs being provided and the rates being paid?

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