asked the Taoiseach if, in view of the fact that the Central Statistics Office have announced that there were 19,000 fewer people at work in 1956 than in 1955, he will ascertain the estimated emigration figures for 1956.

With the exception of statistics of emigration by sea to countries outside Europe, reliable net emigration figures are available only in respect of inter-censal periods. The reasons for this are set out at length in replies to previous questions on this subject. I would, in particular, refer the Deputy to the replies to Deputy Hession on the 1st May, 1952, to Deputy Declan Costello on the 22nd October, 1952, and to Deputy McQuillan on the 27th October, 1954.

Efforts have been made in the past to compute annual net emigration figures but experience has shown that, while these methods may enable total inter-censal net emigration to be allocated on an annual basis with some degree of reliability, they do not enable reliable annual figures of net emigration to be computed in advance of inter-censal data.