Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland work in the distributive and allied trades; how many are owners—partners in businesses in that field; how many are employees. and how many are in the trade unions representing the employees.
§ Mr. Concannon, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 5 February 1979], gave the following information:
The number of employees in employment in the distributive and allied trades in Northern Ireland at 6 March 1978 was about 51,450. I regret that figures are not available for the number of owners and partners in businesses in this sector; a very rough indicator is the number of people who are self-employed in the distributive and allied trades in Northern Ireland, for which the latest available figure is 8,660 in 1974. I regret that reliable information is not available on the numbers of employees in this sector who are trade union members.