asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the average wage, number or unemployed, number of homeless, and number of unfit houses in Northern Ireland as compared with the rest of the United Kingdom.

The average wage for male manual workers in Northern Ireland in October, 1971, was £27·48 compared with £30·98 in the United Kingdom; the number of unemployed in April, 1972, was 47,490 in Northern Ireland compared with 957,654 in Great Britain; the number of homeless families in temporary accommodation provided by social services departments is negligible in Northern Ireland compared with approximately 5,500 in England; and the number of unfit houses was, in 1967, approximately 100,000 in Northern Ireland compared with 1,800,000 in England and Wales.