Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not think the Deputy's assertion is true. I suggest that he speak to the CSO about it, which is what we have done. The CSO is standing over its figure of an extra 61,000 jobs in the economy. What it says is that we should look at the figure in individual sectors with some caution when the make-up of the sample changes somewhat. The overall figure is clear. When one has a sample as broad as those the CSO takes, and as households fill out forms, there are clearly 61,000 more people in work than there were 12 months ago. What the CSO is saying is that we should look with some caution at the make-up of those 61,000 jobs sector by sector, because the sample structure has changed. I can only work with the figures the CSO gives me. It is true to say that the sample to which we referred at the start was the primary agriculture, fishing and forestry sector and the story of the food industry and its performance over the past 12 months and the past three years also includes figures that come under manufacturing and processing, because clearly jobs have been created in companies that are expanding because of the growth in food output in Ireland.

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