§ Mr. MossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessments she has made of the effect of the introduction of the national minimum wage in terms of(a) the total number of people employed and (b) the numbers employed in each sector of the economy. [50151]
§ Mr. IngramCurrent estimates indicate that a total of approximately 66,000 employees in employment in Northern Ireland will be directly affected when the national minimum wage is introduced in April 1999. The majority of these work in service sector industries. Current data sources are not robust enough to provide reliable detailed sectoral estimates.