asked the Minister for the Environment the number of persons employed in the construction industry on the latest date in 1983 for which figures are available and on a corresponding date in each year since 1973.
Written Answers. - Construction Industry.
666.
The Central Statistics Office publish official estimates of employment in the construction industry for only one month each year viz. April. The figures for each year since 1973 are as follows:— 1973, 83,000, 1974, 85,000; 1975, 89,000; 1976, 84,000; 1977, 87,000; 1978, 96,000; 1979, 101,000; 1980, 103,000; 1981, 97,000; 1982, 92,000. The figure for April 1983 is not yet available. However, my Department estimate that 85,000 were employed in the industry in December 1982.