Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

The figures are not a measure of unemployment. There has also been positive growth in incomes of approximately 4% to 5%, ahead of inflation, which is now down to between 1% and 2%. It is true that redundancies have increased. However, in the main people have been able to find replacement jobs relatively quickly and employment is still rising. It has never ceased to rise throughout this period. Before the economy got going in 1987, employment was below 1.1 million and is now more than 1.8 million, which means that employment has increased by more than 50% and is still on an upward trend.

The community employment scheme was an issue approximately one year ago, but is no longer an issue. I have had no representations about community employment.