Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 124: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of jobs lost and created throughout the economy in each of the past 24 months to date in 2009; the trends therein; if she proposes to take action as a result; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45000/09]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The number of people in employment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey or QNHS and published by the Central Statistics Office. In the second quarter of 2009, the most recent quarter for which data is available, employment decreased by 175,400 from Quarter 2 2007 to Quarter 2 2009, while unemployment increased by 161,500 over the same period.

The most recent data on employment levels in the past two years (on a year on year quarterly basis) are set out in the following table.

Source: CSO, Quarterly National Household Survey, Q2 2009 (April–June 2009)

Employment data in respect of companies supported by the Enterprise Agencies (Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Shannon Development) is collated on an annual basis only, and accordingly monthly figures cannot be supplied. The table below sets out the number of full-time jobs created and lost in enterprise agency assisted firms only (IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development), for the years 2007 and 2008

There is no exact measure of the number of jobs lost, however, the Department records the number of redundancies notified to them on a monthly basis. In the last 24 Months there have been 59,521 redundancies reported. The table below sets out the number of redundancy notifications received on a monthly basis for the 2007 to 2009.

Actual Redundancies 2007 - 2009 broken down by month

The Government are committed to providing the necessary support to those who are unemployed to ensure that they have every opportunity to get back into employment as soon as possible.

The Government are also committed to pursuing a job creation strategy that focuses on strengthening our competitiveness, driving down the cost of doing business here and ensuring our return to sustainable export-led growth. My Department's enterprise development agencies will continue to play a key role in supporting companies in creating new job opportunities.