1. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc The Spatial Extent and Economic Structure of Rural Labour Markets in Ireland David Meredith

2. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Research Context  Research commissioned by the Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Need for greater understanding of the potential rural impact of the current economic recession. How many rural labour market areas (RLMAs) are there? How many jobs are (were) available? What economic sectors are the employment opportunities associated with? What is the socio-economic and demographic profile of individual RLMAs? What is the potential impact of the current economic recession on RLMAs?

3. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Presentation Overview  Presentation outlines Changes in Ireland Population Impacts on the Labour Force  Explores the size of regional economies  Assesses regional labour supply and demand at the NUTS II level  Identifies the need for rural labour market analysis  Applies a regionalisation algorithm to identify RLMAs  Analysis of the local importance of economic activities  Evaluation of the economic structure and labour profile of the Kilrush LLMA.

4. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Population Change 1986 - 2006 Region1986 - 2006 Border12.52 Midland21.00 West18.93 BMW16.65 Dublin16.22 Mid-East52.98 Mid-West14.45 South-East19.71 South- West 15.69 S&E20.91 Total19.75  Population growth focused on areas adjacent or proximal to cities and towns.  Population decline occurring IN urban centres and inaccessible rural places.

5. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Labour Force 1986 - 2006  Overall Labour Force +59% Unemployment -% Seeking 1 st job -%  1986 – 1996 Growth concentrated in GDR and urban centres  1996 – 2006 Employment growth is more dispersed Census of Population

6. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Changing Structure of the Labour Force 1986 - 19911991- 19961996 - 20022002 - 20061986 - 2006 Males 5112140 Females 15222921119  Males Rapid expansion of construction between 2002 - 2006  Females Growth of commercial (retail) and public sector employment. Census of Population

7. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Regional Employment Growth

8. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Data: Place of Work - Census of Anonymised Records Dataset produced from the 2006 Census of Population Contains records detailing travel, demographic and socio-economic profile of the 1,834,472 persons who were  enumerated in a private household  15 years old or over  enumerated at home  indicated that their Present Principal Status was working for payment or profit The dataset contains spatial information regarding where the person lives and where they work.

9. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Size of NUTS III Regional Workforces Exclusion of NI / Overseas / Mobile and Unknown groups

10. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Structure of Regional Economies (2006)

11. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc NUTS III Regional Economies 2006

12. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Spatial Assessment of Self Containment Impact of Dublin on travel-to-work patterns of surrounding regions. Accessibility of the Midland region Location of towns and cities in the Southwest. Spatial structure of Boarder region distorts the analysis.

13. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Local Labour Markets  Application of the Coombes Algorithm Interaction between spaces Critical thresholds of self-containment and labour force  Identifies 37 Local Labour Markets

14. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Profiling LLMAs LLMAWorkforceJobsSC Dublin747,407646,115 86.45 Dundalk32,20523,170 71.95 Carlow35,74623,286 65.14 Laois/Kilkenny53,43939,296 73.53 Arklow / Enniscorthy31,09520,252 65.13 Waterford44,64338,317 85.83 Cavan/North Meath36,97225,401 68.70 Mullingar31,23923,197 74.26 Tullamore30,75820,828 67.72 Athlone23,15719,521 84.30 LLMA Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing Manufacturing IndustriesConstructionCommerce Transport, comms & storage Public admin & Defense Education, health and social work Galway West 6.70 14.26 4.69 18.59 4.43 4.76 25.53 National 4.45 15.84 5.76 31.59 5.35 6.09 19.36

15. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Sectoral Structure of LLMA Economies: Construction

16. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Profile of the Kilrush LLMA Economy

17. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Sectoral Distribution of Male and Female Workforce

18. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Persons with 3 rd Level Education

19. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Sectoral age structure - Males

20. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc Sectoral age structure - Females

21. Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc RLMA Analysis Findings  Analysis highlights structural features of the economy. High level of dependence on agriculture, manufacturing and construction. The structure of the local economy is divided between male (Agriculture, Manufacturing, Construction) and female (Public Admin and Education) dominated sectors. Higher levels of education amongst females Younger workers, male and female, are highly dependent on the construction sector.