asked the Taoiseach the number of women in the workforce in Ireland; the percentage of the workforce this number represents; and the average European percentage.

Dún Laoghaire): In 1983, the most recent year for which data were available for all EC member states, there were an estimated 389,000 women in the labour force in Ireland, representing 30 per cent of the total labour force in the State. In the EC as a whole, women make up an estimated 38 per cent of the total labour force.

Have those figures been on the increase since the survey was done and prior to 1983? Were they increasing before that?

(Dún Laoghaire): Up to 1983 the trend had been increasing. The figures from the 1984 labour force survey should be available shortly.