asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will state the total labour force now engaged on building and construction work; the total labour force which it is estimated will be available for building and construction work in March, 1948; and the total labour force which will be available, at March, 1948, for housing schemes undertaken by local authorities.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Labour for Housing Schemes.
Mr. Corish
Information of the exact type the Deputy seeks is not available, but the following particulars may be helpful.
It is estimated from the sale of supplementary insurance stamps at post offices for the 12 months ended 31st August, 1947, the latest year for which particulars are available, that the weekly average number of persons employed in the building trade was 22,394.
During the insurance year which terminated on the 5th October, 1947, the number of wet-time books exchanged by workers in the building trade was 32,817. In addition, 15,084 fresh wet-time books were issued during that period, making a total of 47,901. It may be taken, therefore, that at least that number of workers will be engaged or available for engagement in March, 1948. The proportion of these that will be available for the housing schemes of local authorities cannot be stated.
Those figures are for the building trade only. The Deputy's question refers also to construction work, and it is assumed that the reference is to the industry known as construction of works or civil engineering. There are no comparable figures available under that head, but particulars of the number of men, boys, women and girls insured against unemployment in those two industries, taken jointly, are given in table 112 of the Statistical Abstract, 1946. Particulars of unemployment in each is given in table 111. If later information of this type is desired, I shall arrange to make it available to the Deputy.