Written answers
Thursday, 26 November 2015
Department of Social Protection
Employment Data
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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31. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will indicate, arising from job opportunities in the past three years, the extent to which such positions have been filled by young unemployed persons; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42245/15]
Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Eurostat, the EU’s statistical service, has recently commenced the publication of experimental statistics on the number of people moving from non-employment to employment. They are based on comparisons of individual people’s situation in successive quarters in the Labour Force Survey (in Ireland, the Quarterly National Household Survey or QNHS). Non-employment here includes both unemployment and inactivity (e.g. being a student or carer who is not available for or seeking work) in the first quarter covered by the comparison.
These data give an indication of the number of job opportunities taken up in each quarter (although it will not be complete as it will not, for example, include people moving directly from one job to another without an intervening period out of work).
Aggregating the Eurostat data for each of the last three years yields the following overall results for Ireland.
Persons aged 15-74 years#: - Quarter-to-Quarter Transitions to employment from:-
| - | Unemployment | Inactivity | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 months ended:- | |||
| June 2013 | 137,000 | 146,000 | 283,000 |
| June 2014 | 128,000 | 144,000 | 272,000 |
| June 2015 | 126,000 | 147,000 | 273,000 |
Based on an examination of the underlying data in the QNHS, the Department of Social Protection estimates that the figures for people aged under 25 years in Ireland for the same periods were as set out in the following table.
Persons aged 15-24 years#:- Quarter-to-Quarter Transitions to employment from:-
| Unemployment | Inactivity | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 months ended:- | |||
| June 2013 | 32,000 | 76,000 | 108,000 |
| June 2014 | 27,000 | 62,000 | 89,000 |
| June 2015 | 32,000 | 65,000 | 97,000 |
#Based on age in the first quarter covered by the comparison
The data indicate that, as in other countries, young people in Ireland move between employment, unemployment and inactivity more frequently than is the case with older workers. The large flow of young people from inactivity to employment is likely to reflect the fact that many young people enter employment directly from education with only a short, if any, intervening period of unemployment.
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