Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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470. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the increase that has taken place in employment in agriculture, forestry and marine in the two years to the second quarter of 2014 broken down by NUTS 2 and NUTS 3 regions; the sectors in which this increase has occurred; the causes of this increase; the steps been taken to sustain this increase in employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34473/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The CSO’s Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) shows that there was an annual increase in employment of 1.7%, or 31,600, in the year to the second quarter of 2014, bringing total employment to 1,901,600. Employment increased in ten of the fourteen economic sectors over the year and fell in four. The published annual increase recorded in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing was +6.2%, or 6,400, giving a total of 109,800. However, the CSO has advised that due to necessary changes in the sampling framework introduced incrementally to reflect the 2011 Census of Population, the first fully valid year-on-year comparisons for the agriculture sector will only be available from Q4 2014.

The table below sets out the employment figures for the total agri-food sector (including primary agriculture, forestry and fishing, as well as food, beverage and wood processing) and calculates its share of total employment by NUTS 2 and NUTS 3 region for Q2 2014. This shows, for example, that while the agri-food sector accounted for 9% of total employment in the State, it accounted for 14% of employment in the BMW region.

These figures underline the importance of the sector at a regional level, as well as the opportunities for further development which the implementation of Food Harvest 2020 will bring.

QNHS data, Q2 2014