asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will state the number of unemployed registered at the Tralee Employment Exchange on the 1st June, 1947, and on the 1st June, 1948.

The numbers of persons registered at Tralee Employment Exchange on the 7th June, 1947, and the 5th June, 1948, the earliest dates in those months for which figures are available, were 1,052 and 1,865, respectively.

The figures for the two dates are not comparable for the reason that two Employment Period Orders were in operation at the beginning of June, 1947, whereas only one Order was in operation at the beginning of June this year. In addition, the scope of the Orders varied as between the two years.