Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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39. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 75 of 27 February 2013, if he will provide a detailed up to date report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49876/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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In Budget 2014, an average unemployment rate of 13.5 per cent was forecast by my Department for 2013. For 2014, a further decline in the unemployment rate is expected, with an average rate of 12.4 per cent forecast. After a number of very difficult years, a recovery in the labour market is now clearly taking hold. During this year live register data show a continually falling unemployment rate, which reached 13.2 per cent in October.

The fall in the unemployment rate is being supported by strong employment growth. Data from the quarterly national household survey show that annual employment growth averaged 1.5 per cent in the first half of the year. Encouragingly, this reflected an increase in both full-time and part-time employment and was broad-based across the majority of sectors in the economy. Available indicators point to continued employment growth in the period since the second quarter, so that employment growth of 1.6 per cent is projected for this year as whole. Given the assumed path for domestic demand – which is more jobs-rich than externally-driven growth – employment growth of 1.5 per cent is forecast for next year.

While we are now moving in the right direction, I want to reiterate that the Government is fully conscious of the scale of the unemployment difficulties facing us and several initiatives have been introduced in this respect. So while we are making progress, I am fully aware that there is some way to go.