asked the Taoiseach the number of people engaged in the building industry and allied trades on 31st December in each of the years 1972, 1973 and 1974 and on 30th April, 1975.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Building Industry.
4.
Data in respect of the total labour force and persons at work by branch of economic activity are compiled by the Central Statistics Office for mid-April each year. The total numbers of persons engaged in building and construction work in mid-April for each of the years 1972, 1973 and 1974 was 78,000, 79,000 and 80,000 respectively. Figures for mid-April, 1975 are not yet available.
Additional but less comprehensive information is available from a monthly employment index covering a sample of enterprises whose major or sole kind of activity is building and construction work but excluding persons engaged in the construction units of State or semi-State organisations. On the basis of this index it is estimated that for the month of December in each of the years 1972, 1973 and 1974, the numbers of persons engaged were 61.1, 61.3 and 60.1 thousand respectively. The provisional index for April, 1975 shows 56.8 thousand persons engaged.
A significant drop, is there not?