Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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1. To ask the Taoiseach the number of new jobs that have been created since the Action Plan For Jobs was established in 2012; the sectors they were created in; the percentage of the figure that was not in Government supported employment schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35197/15]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) is the official source of estimates of employment in the State. The most recent figures available are for Q2 2015. As the Action Plan for Jobs was launched on 13^thFebruary 2012 the Quarter 1 2012 figures are being used in the comparison.

Table 1 below shows the seasonally adjusted number of persons aged 15 years and over in employment in Q1 of 2012 and Q2 of 2015 classified by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector along with the three year change. As Table 1 shows the overall stock of persons employed at given points in time, the changes which are calculated using these stock figures depend both on the number of jobs lost and jobs created over the period in question. The QNHS does not record whether a job is newly created.

Table 1 Seasonally adjusted number of persons aged 15 years and over in employment classified by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector (ILO) Q1 2012 and Q2 2015

'000

Data may be subject to sampling or other survey errors, which are greater in respect of smaller values or estimates of change.'

Source: Quarterly National Household Survey, Central Statistics Office.';

It is not possible to calculate the percentage of the net change in employment that were in Government supported employment schemes.

The Live Register is compiled from returns made for each local office to the Central Statistics Office by the Department of Social Protection.

It should be noted that the Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment. It includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseeker's Benefit or Allowance.

There were 65,616 people in total engaged on activation schemes run by the Department of Social Protection in August 2015. This the most recent data available. The people who are engaged in work based activation programmes do not fall under the definition of being unemployed and do not appear in the unemployment estimates as reported by the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) which is the official source of estimates of unemployment in the State.

The primary classification used for these QNHS results is the ILO (International Labour Office) labour force classification. Those engaged in education based activation programmes may or may notbe classified as unemployed; depending upon their labour force situation they are classified based on the ILO labour force definition used in the QNHS. The classification for unemployed persons includes those persons who, in the week before the survey, were without work and available for work within the next two weeks, and had taken specific steps, in the preceding four weeks, to find work.

Table 2 shows the number of people engaged on activation schemes in August of each year from 2012 to 2015 along with the three year change.

Table 2 Live Register Activation Programmes August 2012-August 2015

¹This scheme was closed to new applications from 1st May 2009.

²This scheme was introduced from 1st May 2009. It provides immediate support for someone in receipt of Jobseekers Benefit who wants to start a business.

³Gateway Scheme included from December 2013

⁴Specific Skills Training/Local Training initiative/Traineeship/Return to Work.

⁵VTOS figures are estimated at 5,000 each year.

⁶ BTEA figures include all schemes but participants from JA & JB are not entitled to BTEA during the summer holidays.

Includes MOMENTUM participants from February 2013.