asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will arrange for consultations to take place between the Industrial Development Authority and the Minister for Social Welfare to ensure that, as far as possible, new industries will be created and located in those areas of the country which suffer from chronic unemployment and underemployment.
- New Industries.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether, in the light of the high emigration rate from Gaeltacht areas and of the low economic levels in such areas he is prepared to arrange for early consultation by his Department with the Departments of Social Welfare, Agriculture, and Lands with a view to the creation of industries in these areas for the purpose of providing employment at a living family wage.
With the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's permission, I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 54 together.
I can assure the Deputies that the Industrial Development Authority are giving constant consideration to the needs of those areas which the Deputies have in mind.
The Industrial Development Authority does in fact consult, and will continue to consult, with interested Government Departments in all such matters.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will arrange to have published by the Government Information Bureau some information in the form of a progress report setting out (a) steps so far taken by the Industrial Development Authority to create new industries and the results of such steps; and (b) the programme and policy of the Industrial Development Authority for the immediate future in relation to the establishment of new industries.
I do not consider it desirable to arrange for the publication of a progress report. The Deputy will appreciate that the creation of new industries frequently involves discussions and negotiations between the Industrial Development Authority and private interests and that it might be embarrassing to disclose publicly the steps taken or about to be taken in this connection.
While appreciating the difficulty which the Parliamentary Secretary has indicated, would he direct his attention to some method of procedure whereby Deputies could be given an idea, at any rate, of the amount of progress and the direction in which the Industrial Development Authority is proceeding, even in a very general way?
I will do it some time.
I think that adequate information is available either through parliamentary questions or through reports in the Press of new industrial developments.
The replies of the Parliamentary Secretary are not very illuminating.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether the Industrial Development Authority are as yet in a position to indicate authoritatively the new industries which could and should be set up.
The authority have already drawn the attention of many groups and individuals to spheres in which new industries could be established or existing ones expanded. In other cases the authority are actively pursuing their own investigations in order to reach a stage at which they can indicate definite possibilities.
The Deputy will, I am sure, appreciate the undesirability of making public the inquiries which the authority are making, until these inquiries have reached finality.
Am I to understand from the Parliamentary Secretary that, in his opinion, it is undesirable that even the most general type of information should be given to the Dáil?
When a decision is arrived at publicity will be given to it, but in the case of discussions with the Industrial Development Authority or, for that matter, with the Department of Industry and Commerce, it might be very harmful and undesirable—it is quite likely that it would be harmful in some cases—to publicise the nature of them in advance.