New figures "prove" that Protestant workers are being discriminated against in Northern Ireland, a Democratic Unionist has claimed.

Speaking on Tuesday, East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell called on the government and the Equality Commission to rectify the situation, after a written parliamentary answer revealed that while the number of Protestant employees fell by nearly 5,000 between 1992 and 2002, the number of Catholic employees rose by 22,000.

"The answer provides a devastating blow to those who have believed the myth of discrimination against Roman Catholics, and proves that the action which is required is how to ensure that more Protestants get jobs, because it is they who have been losing out," he said.

"This can only mean that, as I have argued for many years, new jobs are are being allocated disproportionately to Roman Catholics.

"No other rational explanation can be given for the Protestant/Roman Catholic 'gap' narrowing by 26,000 jobs in a 10-year period.

"Now that the myth has been swept aside, the government must begin addressing the reality of Protestant disadvantage in the jobs stakes."

An Equality Commission report published in December 2003 revealed that the numbers of Catholic employees increased by 1.7 per cent in 2002, while the number of Protestant workers fell by 0.6 per cent.