§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what research the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland plans to fund concerning the causes and appropriate policy response to the employment and unemployment differential between Catholics and Protestants.[98212]
§ Mr. BrowneThe Equality Commission for Northern Ireland plans to fund research in 2003–04 into economic activity given the evidence in the Labour Force Survey of differential rates of activity of Protestants and Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland.
The commission plans to utilise the results of the 2001 Population Census to review the comparative labour market position of Protestants and Roman Catholics in terms of:
employment/unemployment/economic inactivity
occupation and
industrial sector.
This research will be carried out following release of cross tabulations of Census data by the Department of Finance and Personnel. Release of the census data is expected by March 2003 (approximately) and the review will be completed by March 2004.
The Equality Commission has also been encouraging employers to make use of the facility provided by the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 to recruit from those not in employment.