asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to his reply to the question from the hon. Member for Grimsby on 23 November comparing the growth rate in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland, in the light of the information in table 16 of the Eurostat basic statistics, whether he will supplement the table which he has already circulated with the corresponding figures for earnings and retail prices in both countries; why the figures he has given for the increase in the money supply in the Republic of Ireland differ from those given in table 138 of

			Comparison of rates of growth of average earnings*		Comparison of price movements
			Republic of Ireland	Great Britain	Republic of Ireland	United Kingdom
			Percentage increase on previous year
1970	…	…	16	13	8	6
1971	…	…	16	11	9	9
1972	…	…	15	13	9	7
1973	…	…	20	13	11	9
1974	…	…	20	17	17	16
1975	…	…	29	26	21	24
1976	…	…	17	17	18	17
1977	…	…	15	10	14	16
1978	…	…	Not available	15	8	8
* Average earning in manufacturing industry, hourly—Republic of Ireland, weekly—Great Britain.
Sources:
Average earnings:
OECD Main economic indicators.
Historical Statistics 1960–75.
OECD Main economic indicators October 1979.
Prices:
For United Kingdom:
General index of retail prices.
Department of Employment Gazette.
For Republic of Ireland:
Consumer price index, International Financial Statistics Year Book (IMF).

The figures for growth in the money supply in my previous answer were based on an aggregate compiled by the IMF and described by it as M2. It is close in definition to the aggregate termed M3 in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom figures in table 138 of