asked the Minister for the Public Service the number of women employed in the Civil Service as a consequence of the ending of the employment marriage bar; and the percentage this represents of all civil servants.

I assume that the Deputy wishes to know how many women civil servants now serving would have had to retire but for the abolition of the marriage bar in July 1973.

Information is not available about the conjugal status of most women civil servants. However, the total number of women currently serving in the non-industrial Civil Service is approximately 13,000, that is 44 per cent of the total employed.

How many are married women?

As I said in my reply, information is not available about the conjugal status of most women civil servants.