asked the Minister for Labour the number of apprentices at present unemployed; and the skills to which they are apprenticed.

: As the reply sought is in the nature of a tabular statement I propose to circulate it with the Official Report.

Following is the statement:

Unemployed apprentices as per AnCO's register dated 31 January, 1983.

Footnotes:

1. AnCO caters for the needs of unemployed apprentices by:

(a) seeking in conjunction with the National Manpower Service to have the apprentice reemployed as soon as possible;

(b) providing updating of skills courses in AnCO Training Centres;

(c) assigning out of work apprentices to block release courses in Regional Technical Colleges etc.

(d) placing apprentices on Community Youth training projects;

(e) "parking" apprentices with suitable employers on a temporary basis.

On 31 January some 870 unemployed apprentices included in the figures above were being catered for on AnCO Programmes.

2. Although the bulk of out of work apprentices notify AnCO there are a number of apprentices who are not notified and consequently are not on the register.

3. Some apprentices who were notified to AnCO as being out of work omit to inform AnCO that they have secured re-employment and their names still appear in the register.

4. Surveys by AnCO in 1982 of apprentices unemployed according to AnCO's records, indicated that 40 per cent of the respondents were actually unemployed.

: This is stifling. It is most unsatisfactory——

: This is a tabular statement and I would appreciate it if the Deputy would leave it at that. The Chair is ruling that supplementaries will not be allowed on this tabular statement.

: Of course, I have to accept your ruling and I will accept it, but I want to make it known to the Minister that I am disappointed at this new trend towards giving out tabular statements in areas like this. There must be an obvious reason for it.