asked the Minister for Labour the numbers at present unemployed in County Louth who were at some stage during the last three years employed on the temporary employment scheme operated by his Department.

22.

asked the Minister for Labour the numbers at present employed on various temporary employment schemes operated by his Department in County Louth.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 22 together. At present in County Louth 127 persons are participating in the work experience programme; 284 in the enterprise allowance scheme and 48 in the teamwork scheme. As statistics relating to the social employment scheme and employment incentive scheme are at present compiled on the basis of the National Manpower Service regions, it is not possible to provide details in respect of individual counties. In the north-east region, which includes Counties Louth, Cavan and Monaghan, 487 persons are participating in the social employment scheme and 225 under the employment incentive scheme.

My Department are not in a position to monitor the employment or unemployment history of persons who have participated in temporary employment schemes. While the information which would be obtained from such monitoring would be of some interest, the cost, in terms of overall resources would be more than the use value of the information received.