asked the Taoiseach the numbers of workers employed in the private sector for the years 1980 to date.
Written Answers. - Private Sector Employment.
69.
The particulars requested by the Deputy are not directly available from the official labour force estimates made on an annual basis in respect of mid-April.
The estimated total numbers of persons at work at mid-April 1980-1986 are as follows: 1980, 1,156 thousand; 1981, 1,146 thousand; 1982, 1,146 thousand; 1983, 1,124 thousand; 1984, 1,103 thousand; 1985, 1,079 thousand; 1986, 1,075 thousand.
The estimates are derived from the results of the 1981 census of population and the series of annual labour force surveys since 1983. Trend indicators in different sectors were used to interpolate figures for 1980 and 1982. The sectoral classification of persons at work is according to the type of economic activity engaged in. Accordingly, the survey estimates cannot be disaggregated as between the public and private sectors.
In reply to another question on today's Order Paper put down by the Deputy, the Minister for Finance is providing estimates of employment in the public sector.