asked the Taoiseach the number of persons employed in the building and construction industry in 1979 and in 1975.

Estimates of the total number of persons engaged in the building and construction sector are made in respect of mid-April each year as part of the regular labour force estimates.

The figures for the past years are: 1975, 81,000; 1976, 76,000; 1977, 77,000 and for 1978, 82,000 (which is the latest available at this time).

When is it expected to have figures for mid-April 1979?

The figures should be available in a couple of months time. We usually run about two months behind.

Why are these figures two months late?

The Deputy will appreciate that we have a postal strike.

I asked a question in relation to the number of people employed, not the number of people unemployed.

The Deputy would need to put down a question on that. The collection of statistics is involved in this and in the normal course two months to collect those statistics is not excessive.

Are these figures collected only in mid-April?

They are collected monthly.

Would the Minister not have had a figure then for earlier than mid-April?

I would but I was asked for a figure for April 1979.

Would the Minister not have had the figure for January?

Yes, but the question asked was in relation to the figures for the number of people employed in the building and construction industry in 1979. We are only half way through 1979.

Has the Minister got a figure for January 1979?

I have.

What is it?

I have not got a total figure——

Give me the comparable figures for January 1975 and January 1979.

The comparable figure for January 1975 is a monthly index and it is 104.7 as against 94 in January 1979.

In other words there are fewer people employed in the building industry now than in 1975. It took a good while to get it out of the Minister but we have it now.

The Deputy is aware that for about 17 days in January we had very bad weather.

There has been a drop in the numbers employed in the building industry since 1975.

There was also a great drop in snowfall in January of this year.

Let the Deputy not confuse it with the facts.

Are the Government blaming the weather now?