To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information is available, following analyses of the 1981 census on (a) the marriage of Gaelic speakers and non-Gaelic speakers to Gaelic-speaking and non-Gaelic-speaking partners, (b) the incidence of Gaelic-speaking ability amongst the children of Gaelic and non-Gaelic-speaking parents and (c) the incidence of Gaelic language speaking abilities in each socio-economic group; and what plans there are to publish such information.

[holding answer 19 March 1990]: Information from the census is either included in reports laid before Parliament and subsequently published or is produced at the discretion of the Registrar-General in response to a request from a customer, who is required to pay the cost of production.No information of the type mentioned was included in the published Gaelic report and there are no plans for further publications. I understand that the Registrar-General has received a customer request for such information and is currently considering the technical and resource implications. Provided there are no insuperable difficulties and agreement can be reached on the cost, the Registrar-General will provide the information.