asked the Taoiseach the percentage of young persons under 25 years of age unemployed in each country of the EC.

Dún Laoghaire): The only comparable information available is that obtained from the labour force surveys. I propose to circulate a statement containing the relevant data for 1983, the latest year for which the EC Statistical Office can provide the information. The 1983 labour force survey results are not yet available to the EC Statistical Office for all the member countries and provisional data are shown in these cases.

Following is the statement:

Percentage of persons under 25 years of age unemployed in each member country of the EC — April-May 1983.

1. 1983 Labour Force Survey results:

2. Provisional estimates for 1983:

Source: EC Statistical Office.

Notes (i) The data shown at 2 above are provisional and subject to revision when the 1983 labour force survey results become available.

(ii) In all cases the figures shown are the number of unemployed persons under 25 years of age using the EC definition as percentages of the labour force of same age.

2.

asked the Taoiseach the estimated number of persons under 25 years of age who are unemployed and are not on the live register.

(Dún Laoghaire): There is no direct information available on the number of unemployed persons under 25 years of age who are not on the live register.

The most comprehensive coverage of unemployment of persons under 25 years of age is that obtained in the labour force surveys when the classification as unemployed is independent of inclusion on the live register (i.e. of eligibility for unemployment benefit or assistance). The estimated figures from the 1983 labour force survey, the latest available, show that in April-May 1983 there were 71,900 unemployed persons under 25 years of age, including 27,100 who were looking for their first regular job. At the end of April 1983, the live register figure for persons under 25 years of age was 56,200.

Direct comparisons of unemployment figures from statistical inquiries such as the labour force survey with live register figures can be misleading because of definitional differences etc. The live register figures derive from the administration of the Social Welfare Acts while the other data are based on a special survey.

Would the Minister accept that there is a large number of young people under 25 years of age who are not eligible for unemployment benefit or assistance but who are unemployed?

(Dún Laoghaire): I have already said that the estimated figures from the 1983 labour force survey, the latest available, show that in April-May 1983 there were 71,900 unemployed persons. That compares with 56,200 on the live register. Therefore, from the special survey carried out, the first figure I mentioned is the relevant one.

3.

asked the Taoiseach the number of persons on the live register who are under 25 years of age.

(Dún Laoghaire): On 28 September 1984, the latest period for which data are available, there were 66,154 persons under 25 years of age on the live register.

Would the Minister have any breakdown of how many of those persons were male and how many female, and how many of them were unemployed for longer than a year?

(Dún Laoghaire): As at 28 September 1984 41,481 males and 24,673 females.