concerning the employment of contract teachers in Bermuda during Friday's House of Assembly debate.

Miss Smith asked Education Minister the Hon. Gerald Simons to give a breakdown of contract teachers "newly employed and long-serving'' who receive a housing allowance.

And Miss Smith asked for the total amount the Education Ministry spent on housing allowances from 1989 to present.

But Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira, who is in charge of the budget for housing allowance, said he would have to answer such questions.

Dr. Terceira said as at the end of May there were 23 teachers receiving housing allowance.

He said the amount of the housing allowance was reviewed periodically and it had been reduced as a result of new houses coming on the market at lower rates.

In 1989/90 the total amount of housing allowance paid out by the Education Ministry was $247,000, Dr. Terceira said. In 1990/91 the total amount was $192,000, in 1991/92 $137,000, and so far this year $111,000 had been paid.

Dr. Terceira said he could not give a figure for the maximum amount of housing allowance paid to a contract teacher. But he said the average housing allowance available to a teacher was $4,800 a year.

Since MPs approved a motion in the House of Assembly last November calling on Government to look into establishing an unemployment insurance scheme in Bermuda, the Finance Ministry has: Been gathering information on unemployment insurance schemes from a number of jurisdictions, including Canada, America, the United Kingdom, Norway, Spain and Japan.

And a senior member of the Ministry has attended a workshop in Curacao where the unemployment insurance scheme in Barbados was discussed. The Ministry is currently reviewing the information with a view to producing an initial report for the consideration of Government, said Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul.