Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 89: To ask the Taoiseach his views on the most accurate measure of unemployment in the State with reference to the live register and the Central Statistics Office quarterly national household survey; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35011/10]

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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The official source of unemployment estimates for the state is the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). Estimates from the QNHS are based on internationally recognised standards for the measurement of the labour market status of individuals. These standards were developed by the International Labour Office (ILO) and allow comparison of key indicators in relation to the labour market for different countries. They also ensure that the measurement of unemployment is done on a consistent basis over time and thus an accurate trend is presented. Within the ILO framework a person is regarded as unemployed if they have not undertaken any paid work in the reference period and are actively seeking employment. This manner of measurement is designed specifically to identify that the person is unemployed according to a clear definition.

On the other hand the Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment as it legitimately includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseekers Benefit or Allowance. As the Live Register is based on an administrative system it is also subject to changes in the rules surrounding the system, for example if the rules for entitlement to benefits change over time this will cause a break in series and create difficulties in interpreting the longer term trend. Therefore the estimate of unemployment from the QNHS must be taken as the accurate measure of unemployment for the state. This issue has previously been the subject of detailed discussion in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in 1998.

However, while the overall level differs significantly between the two sources there has over time been a broad correlation in the trends between the two measures. Therefore each month the CSO publishes a standardised unemployment rate (SUR) which utilises the trend in the number of persons on the live register to update the total number of unemployed persons as measured by the most recent QNHS and thus generate the SUR. This is done to provide an early indication of the unemployment rate given that the live register numbers are available significantly earlier than QNHS estimates for any given period. However, the estimated SUR produced in this manner is subject to revision once official QNHS estimates are available.