§ Mr. HORNERasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he can state, ap- 468W proximately, as at the 1st November last, the number of employed persons, male and female, in Ireland who came within the provisions of the National Insurance Act; the number of those insured; the number of approved societies in Ireland; and the total number of members enrolled in each of the twenty largest approved societies in Ireland?
§ Mr. MASTERMANWith regard to the first part of the question, no more recent figures are available than the actuaries' estimate, published in Cd. 5983, which give the number of male and female employed contributors in Ireland as 524,000 and 303,000, respectively. The number of those for whom cards have actually been stamped cannot be ascertained until the first quarter cards, both from post offices, from Irish approved societies, and from international societies operating in Ireland, have been scheduled, a process which will still require some time to complete. For the same reason no figures can at present be given of the number of members in the twenty largest approved societies in Ireland. The number of societies approved by the Irish Commissioners (not including international societies operating in Ireland which were approved by the Joint Committee) up to 1st November was 117.