54 Mr. Leonard asked the Taoiseach the number of people registered as unemployed in each employment exchange in counties Cavan and Monaghan on 31 December 1996. [2470/97]

Definitive statistics on the level of unemployment are based on the labour force survey. Unfortunately, labour force survey results are not available for small areas. The live register provides monthly data on claimants for unemployment benefit, unemployment assistance and other registrants classified by local office of registration but it is not an accurate indicator of the level of unemployment. The following table sets out the number of persons on the live register in each exchange in counties Cavan and Monaghan on 27 December 1996: