asked the Minister for Lands and Fisheries if sufficient supplies of worsted hosiery and other knitwear are available from the Gaeltacht Industries Depôt, and, if not, if he will state why the factory at Crolly, County Donegal, is not opened to meet the demand.
Ceisteanna.—Questions. Oral Answers. - Supplies of Worsted and Hosiery.
The existing centres for the production of hosiery and knitwear in the Gaeltacht are adequate for the supply of the requirements of these goods for the Gaeltacht Industries Depôt. Proposals for a new industrial departure are under consideration in connection with the building at Crolly.
Arising out of the Parliamentary Secretary's reply, I would like to ask if he does not consider it is turning the procedure of this House into a farce that the Minister responsible for the Department should have answered me last September that he was going to open the Crolly factory immediately; that he answered me again, in December, that he was going to open it immediately; that the Parliamentary Secretary answered me six weeks ago that he was going to open the factory at Crolly immediately and he now tells me that certain proposals are under consideration in connection with the building at Crolly? Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that Crolly is in the centre of one of the hardest hit areas in the whole of County Donegal, and one of the poorest? Is he further aware there are varieties of knitwear which cannot be had from the Gaeltacht Depôt? I have tried unsuccessfully to get certain varieties from them. Is he further aware that there are hundreds of young women in that area of County Donegal ready and willing to do the work if the factory is started? If he is not aware of these things, will he go to Donegal and find out for himself, if he does not believe me?