asked the Minister for the Public Service the number of people employed in the public service in each of the years 1974 to date; and if he will give a break down of the numbers involved between those employed directly in the Civil Service and others such as teachers and gardaí.

The Civil Service is the only area of the public service where I now have statutory responsibility for the control of numbers employed. At present there are 30,600 non-industrial and 5,500 industrial employees in the civil service.

The most comprehensive information available on the numbers employed in the wider public service is set out in Tables 41 and 42 (as follows) of the publication, "Public Service Employment — An Examination of Strategies in Ireland and other European Countries", which was commissioned by my Department and published by the Institute of Public Administration in November 1983.

Table 41 is essentially a head count and has no regard to the hours worked or the frequency of employment of those concerned. Table 42 is an attempt to show wholetime employment and hence excludes part timers or gives wholetime equivalents where available e.g. in parts of the Education Sector. Full details in respect of each sector are given in the publication, "Public Service Employment — An Examination of Strategies in Ireland and other European Countries", from which the tables are extracted.

Neither table in isolation gives a fair picture but taken together the two tables give the most comprehensive picture of public service employment that is currently available.

Table 41: Public Service Employment (1970-1983)*

(000's)

* Base dates vary for the data in each year. For details of each sector, refer to individual Tables earlier in Chapter and their associated guidance and footnotes.

** Derived from Labour Force Surveys as indicated in Tables 2 and 3.

†DPS Note: includes approximately 31,000 staff who transferred to An Post and Telecom Éireann on 1/1/84.

Table 42: Whole-Time Public Service Employment (1970-1983)*

(000's)

*See guidance notes to Table 41 and refer to Footnote (18). These date are best estimates and should be interpreted with caution.

† DPS NOTE: includess approximately 31,000 staff who transferred to An Post and Telecom Éireann on 1/1/84.