Redundancies (Foyle) (Hansard, 19 April 2004)

§ Mr. Hume
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many redundancies there were in the Foyle constituency in the past 36 months. [165395].

§ Mr. Gardiner
In the past 36 months, to 29 February 2004, there were 1,436 redundancies in the Foyle Constituency confirmed to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

§ Mr. Hume
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the education and retraining specifically tailored for textile workers who have been made redundant. [165396]

§ Mr. Gardiner
Staff from the Department for Employment and Learning, supported by colleagues from the Social Security Agency, Inland Revenue and local training and Further Education providers, have delivered Redundancy Counselling for those textile workers affected by the recent closures. An important aspect of this service is to promote available education and training opportunities.
In the North West the Further Education sector has been particularly proactive and offers a full range of provision including training in new skills and assistance in the start-up of businesses. In addition, a joint application has been made by the Department for Employment and Learning and FAS, the training authority in the Republic of Ireland, for funding to the European Structural Fund's Interreg Programme, to address the reskilling of redundant workers.

§ Mr. Hume
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new jobs were created in the Foyle constituency in the past 36 months; and how many of those new jobs are still in existence. [165397]

§ Mr. Gardiner
There were 2,624 job gains by Invest NI clients within Foyle Parliamentary Constituency Area over the three-year period to March 2003. However, there were also 3,991 job losses by clients during this period resulting in a net loss in employment of 1,367. In addition to this, 322 offers of assistance were made through the 'Start a Business' Programme and the estimate of job creation resulting from these is 531. It is not possible to state specifically which of the new jobs created remain in existence.
Information on the total number of jobs created is not available. Total employee jobs data at Parliamentary Constituency level are only available from the biennial Census of Employment and the most recent figures relate to September 2001. At September 2001, the Census of Employment showed that there were 39,063 employee jobs in Foyle Parliamentary Constituency Area. This represented an increase of 515 (1.3 per cent.) from the previous Census figure (September 1999).