Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 32: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of redundancies notified to his Department during 2007; the way this compares with the same period in each year from 2002 to 2006; the numbers notified to date in 2008; if he is concerned at the reported increase in the number of redundancies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16544/08]

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The numbers of actual redundancies notified to my Department for the years 2002-2008 are as follows:

These figures show the number of employees on whose behalf claims were submitted for statutory redundancy lump sum payments. They do not reflect those who lost their jobs with less than two years service in an employment.

I have no control over the number of redundancies that occur at any given time. Naturally I am concerned at any trend that indicates greater than normal volatility in the labour market. However, it must be remembered that redundancy — as recorded in these statistics — does not equate with unemployment.

The number of redundancies over the period in question has fluctuated year on year. The number of people in employment has increased significantly since 2002. Redundancy is a risk associated with employment and the risk has increased from an average annual risk prior to 2002 of 0.787% to 1.34% for the period 2002-2006.