Written answers
Thursday, 10 February 2022
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Economic Data
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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199. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of jobs created and retained in the services sectors over the past three years to date; if particular trends have emerged; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7330/22]
Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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For the three-year period from Q3 2018 until Q3 2021, employment in the services sector has increased from 1.725 million in 2018 to 1.906 million in 2021. This represents an increase of 10.5% or 181,000 jobs over the three-year period. The services sector now accounts for 77.1% of total employment in the country.
Table 1: Persons aged 15-89 years in Employment, Q3 2018 – Q3 2021
| 2018Q3 | 2019Q3 | 2020Q3 | 2021Q3 | Percentage Growth Q3 2018 - Q3 2021 | Job Growth Q3 2018 - Q3 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All NACE economic sectors | 2,268,900 | 2,323,400 | 2,250,000 | 2,471,200 | 8.9% | 202,300 |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (A) | 104,500 | 99,300 | 98,300 | 107,000 | 2.4% | 2,500 |
| Construction (F) | 146,500 | 149,800 | 133,700 | 146,300 | - 0.1% | - 200 |
| Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 300,800 | 300,900 | 302,300 | 310,800 | 3.3% | 10,000 |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 101,100 | 103,700 | 100,100 | 108,700 | 7.5% | 7,600 |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 181,200 | 176,700 | 137,200 | 176,700 | - 2.5% | - 4,500 |
| Information and communication (J) | 124,100 | 130,800 | 128,300 | 147,300 | 18.7% | 23,200 |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities (M) | 134,800 | 132,700 | 140,600 | 164,900 | 22.3% | 30,100 |
| Administrative and support service activities (N) | 105,200 | 109,200 | 92,100 | 103,100 | - 2.0% | - 2,100 |
| Public administration and defence, compulsory social security (O) | 103,600 | 113,900 | 117,700 | 124,200 | 19.9% | 20,600 |
| Education (P) | 169,800 | 182,600 | 182,600 | 208,300 | 22.7% | 38,500 |
| Human health and social work activities (Q) | 281,300 | 290,800 | 288,000 | 306,400 | 8.9% | 25,100 |
| Industry (B to E) | 284,600 | 294,000 | 298,900 | 307,100 | 7.9% | 22,500 |
| Industry and Construction (B to F) | 431,100 | 443,800 | 432,700 | 453,400 | 5.2% | 22,300 |
| Services (G to U) | 1,724,900 | 1,774,700 | 1,715,400 | 1,905,900 | 10.5% | 181,000 |
| Financial, insurance and real estate activities (K,L) | 100,800 | 114,200 | 123,400 | 137,900 | 36.8% | 37,100 |
| Other NACE activities (R to U) | 122,300 | 119,200 | 103,000 | 117,600 | -3.8% | - 4,700 |
| Not stated | 8,400 | 5,600 | - | - | -100.0% | - 8,400 |
Source: Central Statistics Office, Labour Force Survey
The strongest performing services sector during the three-year period was Financial, insurance and real estate with a 36.8% increase or 37,100 additional jobs. The next fastest growing sector was the Education services sector, which increased by 22.7% or 38,500 jobs. The Professional, scientific and technical activities sector increased by 22.3% or 30,100 jobs and the Information and Communication sector increased by 18.7% or 23,200 jobs.
For enterprise agency client companies (i.e., clients of IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta), the latest employment data I can share is for 2020. In the three-year period from 2017 to 2020 employment in Services has grown by 16.4% or 31,881 jobs to reach 225,811 total jobs. The Services sector now accounts for 46.5% of enterprise agency client employment. The agency employment results for all agencies for 2021 will be published by the end of February 2022.
Table 2: Employment in enterprise agency client companies, 2017 - 2020
| 2017 Total Jobs | 2018 Total Jobs | 2019 Total Jobs | 2020 Total Jobs | % Change 2017-2020 | Job Growth 2017-2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Services | 35,160 | 38,092 | 40,988 | 42,347 | 20.4% | 7,187 |
| Financial Services | 32,099 | 32,642 | 34,387 | 34,402 | 7.2% | 2,303 |
| Information and Communication | 109,601 | 117,697 | 126,275 | 131,276 | 19.8% | 21,675 |
| Other Services | 17,070 | 17,690 | 19,027 | 17,786 | 4.2% | 716 |
| Total Services | 193,930 | 206,121 | 220,677 | 225,811 | 16.4% | 31,881 |
Source: DETE, Annual Employment Survey
These results show the remarkable resilience of our services industries despite the severe challenges brought by the pandemic.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Economic Recovery Plan, published last June, sets an ambitious target to exceed pre-crisis employment levels by having 2.5 million people in work by 2024 and in more productive and resilient jobs. The Plan sets out the Government’s commitment to create the right environment for a jobs-led recovery by helping business become more resilient and agile and by supporting people to transition to new jobs in growing sectors of the economy. The Plan commits to further strengthen Ireland’s Skills Framework and architecture to ensure people are supported to secure and remain in sustainable and quality employment through opportunities to reskill and upskill. Accelerating the provision of training, reskilling and upskilling opportunities and increased activation will be pursued through Pathways to Work 2021-2025.
SMEs account for over two thirds of total employment, and as such a strong focus on indigenous SMEs is critical to a jobs-led recovery. The Economic Recovery Plan sets out a two-pronged recovery approach; a focus on domestic SMEs, whilst leveraging and reinforcing the enormous strength and resilience of the Foreign Direct Investment sector in Ireland and its indispensable contribution to job creation and communities across the country. Under Enterprise Ireland’s Regional Enterprise Development Fund, €115 million is being invested in projects to strengthen regional enterprise in all regions and the IDA Ireland will continue to roll-out its regional property programme under its new Strategy, specifically targeting 400 investments to advance regional development.
The Deputy is also aware of the ambition contained in our new National Development Plan, launched at the start of October 2021, which provides substantial investment in the resilience and dynamism of our enterprises, addressing immediate challenges like the ‘tail’ impacts of Brexit and COVID-19, while also preparing enterprises for the longer-term, including climate change and digitalisation.
The twin decarbonisation and digitalisation transition and associated behavioural changes will profoundly alter the economy. Embracing these transitions will also open up substantial new opportunities for businesses and will support significant job creation. Substantial capital investment under the revised National Development Plan and Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) under the European Recovery and Resilience Facility, with €915 million in first tranche of funding, will be key enablers of balanced regional development, and supporting the digital and green transition.
The enterprise programmes of Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland will continue to strengthen growth and employment potential with a particular focus on balanced regional development and smart specialisation, building competitive and innovative regions and enterprises. This includes funding to back collaborative actions at regional and local level, driven by the Regional Enterprise Plans, aided through the Regional Enterprise Development Fund, the Regional Enterprise Transition Scheme, and leveraging European Regional Development Funding and other strategic investments.
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