The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has said he would be "happy" with an unemployment rate of 5 per cent by the year's end.

Asked if he was concerned about a recent report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which predicts that the Republic's unemployment rate will rise from 4.4 per cent to 5 per cent by the end of 2003, Mr Ahern said he was hopeful it could be kept at that level.

"If we could keep it at 5 per cent or under 5 per cent, I would be very happy. It's 11 per cent in Germany," he said.

"I think the OECD is saying it can be sustained through the recession at that rate [5 per cent\], we're managing considerably below it."

Mr Ahern claimed that this year the Republic had generated 28,000 more jobs than it had lost. He added that he was concerned by the spate of job losses over the summer, but said "you lose some and you win some".

"At the end of the day you look at the overall figure, and the overall figure is that we have 1.8 million people working in this country," he argued.

"We should just keep a sense of perspective. Germany, the biggest economy in Europe, has 11 per cent unemployment, we have 4.4 per cent today."

Mr Ahern was speaking after officially opening Harvey Norman Ireland at the Airside Industrial Estate in Swords, Co Dublin.

It is one of the first two outlets in a domestic goods retail chain that eventually aims to employ up to 1,500 staff in the Republic.

Harvey Norman is a publicly quoted Australian retail chain that had sales of €1.9 billion (3.17 billion Australian dollars) in the year to June 30th, 2003. Over the past month, the company opened a 5,400 sq m store in Swords and a 5,600 sq m outlet in Dundalk, Co Louth.

Harvey Norman has invested €14.4 million in both stores and employs 120 people between the two. In a statement, the company said it planned to open 18-25 outlets in the Republic "over the next few years".

At its stated average of 60 people per outlet, 25 outlets would employ 1,500 people.

The company is selling electrical goods, computers, and furniture and bedding. In his speech formally opening the Dublin store, Mr Ahern noted that 80 per cent of the goods Harvey Norman is selling in the State were produced here. He said this would produce a considerable spin-off in indirect employment.

Australian businessman Mr Gerry Harvey, who chairs the company, founded the chain 21 years ago.