Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 176: To ask the Taoiseach the accuracy of the 2006 census on a county basis; the breakdown of forms distributed to households; the number returned completed; the number of households that did not return forms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9575/07]

Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The Central Statistics Office employed a field force comprising 6 Census Liaison Officers, 40 Regional Supervisors, 400 Field Supervisors and 4,400 Enumerators to carry out the census field operation. During the four weeks before Census Day the enumerators entered details in respect of 1.8 million private residences and communal establishments in their enumerator record books. They simultaneously delivered blank census forms to 1.5 million of these dwellings that were expected to be occupied on Census Night — 23 April 2006. Of the remaining 300,000 residences, 270,000 were vacant at the time of the census while in the remaining 30,000 cases the household was either enumerated elsewhere or temporarily absent from the State.

While the census field management reporting system provided ongoing information about forms being delivered and collected during the course of the census field work these were not collated on a county basis because the census field operation was not organised on strict county lines. During the course of the nine week field campaign it is estimated that about 3,500 households with about 6,000 residents may have evaded contact. Operating under strict guidelines, the enumerators were instructed to impute basic demographic information such as age, sex and nationality for the occupants of these households.

The Principal Demographic Results to be published on 29 March will contain a table analysing permanent housing units on a county basis according to whether they were occupied or vacant on census night.

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 177: To ask the Taoiseach the number of non-Irish nationals living in postal areas Dublin 1 and 7; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9968/07]

Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The Principal Demographic Results of the 2006 census which is to be published on 29 March will contain information on the number of non-Irish nationals at State and county levels. I have asked the Central Statistics Office to provide the Deputy with the requested information as soon as possible after that date.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 178: To ask the Taoiseach the way in which the number of unemployed people here is counted; if the count includes those who are signing on for credits, those on FÁS courses who retain their jobseekers payment and those who no longer sign on having exhausted all of their credits and who are not eligible for jobseekers allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9416/07]

Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Labour market estimates are derived from data collected through the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) which forms part of the EU wide (Community) Labour Force Survey. The primary classification used for the labour market status of an individual is the internationally agreed International Labour Office (ILO) labour force classification. The ILO classification distinguishes the following main subgroups:

In Employment: Persons who worked in the week before the survey for one hour or more for payment or profit, including work on the family farm or business and all persons who had a job but were not at work because of illness, holidays etc. in the week.

Unemployed: Persons who, in the week before the survey, were without work and available for work within the next two weeks, and had taken specific steps, in the preceding four weeks, to find work. The specific definition to be applied by all EU member states for the measurement of the unemployed is detailed in Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1897/2000.

Inactive Population (not in labour force): All other persons.

An individual's status from an unemployment perspective is not determined by their activity within the schemes or courses provided by the various Government Departments or other public bodies but rather by their situation vis-À-vis the three criteria outlined in the definition of the unemployed outlined above. For example persons signing on for credits will only be considered as unemployed on an ILO basis if they satisfy the three criteria outlined above.

The Live Register which includes all claimants for jobseekers benefit (excluding systematic short-time workers), jobseekers assistance (excluding smallholders/farm assists and other self-employed persons) and other registrants including applicants for credited Social Welfare contributions but excluding those directly involved in an industrial dispute, treats the three groups outlined in the question as follows:

Those who are signing on for credits would be included in the Live Register figures;

Those on FÁS courses who retain their jobseekers payment are not included in the Live Register figures;

Those who no longer sign on having exhausted all of their benefits (rather than credits) and who are not eligible for jobseekers allowance would sign-on for credits and be included in the Live Register figures.

It should be noted that the Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment.