Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 May 2026
531. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment his Department's definition of 'full employment' and if Ireland currently could be classified as having full employment. [35311/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Irish labour market has been effectively at full employment over the past number of years with the unemployment rate historically low and close to 5%. In terms of definitions, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) refers to full employment as “…a situation where all people who are available and searching for work can find a job at the prevailing remuneration rates and conditions. It does not mean zero unemployment - there are always some who may be temporarily unemployed, as they move from one job to the other or for other reasons. What it means exactly is that those who do not work do so voluntarily. For economists, this is the situation where all labour resources are fully utilized and where an increase in the demand for workers brings about an increase in inflation, not in output.”[1]
The CSO is responsible for producing Ireland’s official labour market statistics. My Department monitors these statistics closely, in particular through the quarterly Labour Force Survey (LFS). The most recent LFS figures were published on the 19th February 2026 and show sustained employment growth, rising labour force participation and record job numbers. In April 2026, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.8%, down from a revised rate of 5.0% in March 2026. On an annual basis, the unemployment rate increased from 4.6% in April 2025 to 4.8% in April 2026.
This overall robust employment performance reflects both the inherent dynamism within the economy and the success of government policies aimed at supporting job creation, fostering innovation, and providing opportunities for all sectors.
The latest forecasts from the Department of Finance and the Central Bank anticipate that unemployment will remain around 5% on average in 2026, 2027 and 2028, largely consistent with full employment conditions. Indeed, the Department in the most recent Annual Progress report, noted that employment growth will be sufficient to absorb further increases in the labour force.
The Government remains fully committed to improving Ireland’s competitive position to add more jobs in the future and the Action Plan has a range of measures to address and build a more resilient economy. The Programme for Government was clear in our ambitions here, that is to create 300,000 extra jobs by 2030.
[1] See: www.ilo.org/resource/article/moving-towards-full-employment-interview-aurelio-parisotto#:~:text=What%20it%20means%20exactly%20is,tight%20the%20labour%20market%20is.
