asked the Taoiseach the work force in (a) agriculture, forestry and fishing, (b) production industries including manufacturing and (c) services at 31 December 1961, 1971 and 1981; and the proportion of the number that females represented at each of those dates.

I propose to circulate a statement setting out the information requested by the Deputy for 1961 and 1971 as derived from the Census of Population taken in April of those years and for 1979 as estimated from the sample Labour Force Survey taken in May-June of that year, the latest period for which the information is available.

Following is the statement:

Estimated total and female labour force as at the 1961 and 1971 Censuses of Population and the 1979 Labour Force (sample) survey.

Note: The Labour Force Survey involves a number of differences in methodology and in definition which affect the measurement of the labour force and the survey results are not therefore strictly comparable to the census based figures.