Workforce 'more fairly split'

The religious make-up of the workforce is monitored

The religious make-up of the NI workforce is now a "very fair pattern", according to the Equality Commission.

Catholics are less likely to be under represented in the workforce now than when monitoring began.

However, there are areas of the public sector where Protestant under representation is becoming more marked.

The report, published on Thursday, shows that overall Protestants make up 58.3% of the workforce and Catholics 41.7%.

The Catholic share of the Northern Ireland workforce has risen by almost 6% since 1990.

Eileen Lavery, Director of Policy and Research, said the new trends were due to demographic changes.

We have now got a workforce which, in the aggregate, shows a very fair pattern Eileen Lavery Equality Commission

"Certainly the pattern which we reveal today is that the community composition of the monitored workforce is now very close to the composition of those who are available for work," she said.

"The trends do show there has been an increase in the number of Catholics and a decrease in the number of Protestants, that largely reflects the demographic change.

Protestant concerns

"Protestants are much better represented in retirement age bands, but there is higher representation of Catholics in the age bands for which recruitment is likely to take place."

The figures show that the Catholic share is higher in health and education than in any other area of the public sector.

"The fact is, in health in particular, the majority of employees are female, there is a very high proportion of those employees who work part time and in both those groups there tends to be a higher Catholic share," she said.

Ms Lavery sought to address concerns that Protestants in certain areas of Northern Ireland could find themselves facing the same position once faced by their Catholic neighbours.

"Our staff, who work individually with every employer, are as vigilant in the case of Protestant under representation as they are in the case of Catholic under representation," Ms Lavery said.

"The key message is that we now are in a position where we have a strong economy and where there has been strong growth.

"We have now got a workforce which, in the aggregate, shows a very fair pattern."

Under fair employment legislation in Northern Ireland, all public and private sector companies with 11 or more employees must register with the Equality Commission.

The companies are required each year to submit details of the community background, employment status, occupation and sex of their workforce.