Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she has investigated and sought to quantify the link between social welfare cuts and job losses in view of the fact that there has been a net loss of 33,400 jobs since the publication of her Pathways to Work. [44557/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) reported an annual fall in employment of 33,400 for Quarter 2 2012. Over the same period, the Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey (EHECS), which is the more reliable source for public sector employment estimates according to CSO, reported an annual fall in employment of 25,800 for the 'Total Public Sector including Semi-State bodies' sector. This includes a reduction of 5,300 related to Census 2011 temporary field staff over the year. The annual fall in employment for quarter 1 2012, as reported in the QNHS, was 18,100 and for Quarter 2 2011 was 37,800. The annual fall in public sector employment from EHECS for those quarters was 21,900 and 2,300 respectively. While the two sets of statistics cannot be directly related, it is clear that public sector employment, including the temporary increase due to Census recruitment last year, is having a significant impact on employment trends.

The Department will spend €20½ billion on a wide range of schemes and services this year. While there are many factors driving expenditure, including unemployment levels, demographic changes such as the increase in the number of over-65s and changes in the rules governing entitlements, the contribution, if any, of changes in social welfare to employment trends is not evident.