Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 and 3 together.

The most recent figures published by the Department of Social and Family Affairs show that there were 201,756 persons on the live register in May. However, it is important to remember that the live register is not a measure of unemployment as it includes part-time, seasonal and casual workers who might be signing on from time to time.

Unemployment is measured by the quarterly national household survey, collated and published by the CSO. The current rate of unemployment is 4.6% or 102,100 people in quarter 1, December to February 2008. This reflects an increase of 8,700 in the year.

The increase in unemployment was not unexpected, particularly in the context of the slowdown in the construction industry. It is generally accepted that the strong rate of growth experienced over the past few years could not continue and the economy is now entering a period of adjustment.

However, this increase in unemployment must be seen in the context of the substantial increase in employment by 224,300 in the three-year period since 2005. This compares with an unemployment increase of 19,500 in the same period. The number of people currently in employment is 2,135,100 and employment has increased by 53,800 or 2.6% in the past 12 months.

The employment market still has job vacancies. The most recent FÁS-ESRI employment and vacancies survey for April 2008 shows that 7% of firms are reporting vacancies.

In the budget projection, published by the Department of Finance last December, unemployment was forecast to average at about 5.5% over the period 2008 to 2010. Employment was forecast to continue to grow this year by about 24,000. Some other economists are still forecasting this level of employment growth. For example, following publication of the quarterly national household survey on 5 June last, Bloxhams revised its 2008 forecast from no net change in employment this year to an average rise of 25,000. The Department of Finance will publish a revised forecast in its pre-budget outlook in October.

As regards the economic situation and the impact on the labour market, the focus is now on flexibility in the delivery of employment and training programmes so that those who are affected by the slowdown and by unemployment can be assisted appropriately and in good time.

After three months on the live register those who are still unemployed are referred by Department of Social and Family Affairs to FÁS to assist them into training or employment. FÁS is working through its own employment service and with the local employment service provided by area based partnerships to provide increased interviewing and caseload management capacity to respond to the increased numbers on the live register. The range of integrated support services provided by FÁS also involves information sessions, skills analysis, training/retraining courses and job placement. These services will be available for those who become redundant because of company restructuring or closures.

Specifically, FÁS is implementing a range of short and medium term actions for those affected by the increase in unemployment and the construction slowdown, such as: putting in place training to upskill construction workers in emerging needs; business training and mentoring for workers from larger enterprises entering self-employment; developing measures to ensure continuity in the apprenticeship system; and promoting access for mobile workers to construction jobs elsewhere in the EU, including the UK.

FÁS is also working on increasing its market share of vacancies in the employment market through a range of marketing efforts. As a result, vacancies notified to FÁS in 2007 increased by 12%.

The enterprise development agencies of my Department, including IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, are working to ensure that we continue to grow the economy and jobs even in the current more challenging environment. To facilitate this we need to ensure that our competitiveness is sustained into the future.

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