Deputy Dunne has given notice that, on the motion for the Adjournment, he wishes to raise the subject-matter of Question No. 4.
Private Deputies' Business. - Adjournment Debate—Unemployment.
I asked the Taoiseach to-day:
"Whether he is aware that unemployment is widespread through the country; and, if so, will he state what steps, if any, the Government propose to take to provide work."
With your permission, I would like to read his reply:
"I am aware that the unemployment figures have increased in recent weeks. There is, of course, always an increase in the live register in January, but the increase was greater this year than last year.
It is a fundamental aim of the Government's economic and social policy to create conditions favourable for employment. In addition, the Government endeavour, within the limited sphere available to them, to provide employment on constructive works to the extent permitted by the resources of the community. The sums being spent this year on the land improvement scheme, hospitals, road grants and special employment schemes are substantially greater than last year. The number of new schools now being erected and of major school improvement schemes in progress is greater than the corresponding figure 12 months ago. Employment on arterial drainage in January, 1953, was greater than the corresponding figure last year. A Supplementary is being introduced to maintain employment in afforestation.
It is hardly necessary to say that the increase in the unemployment figures is causing the Government concern. They are watching the situation carefully with a view to providing remedies where possible."
This reply by the Taoiseach was most unsatisfactory, and that is why I decided to impose upon the House in this matter to-night. Deputies havesaid here, so often that it has become hackneyed, that unemployment is the greatest social evil we have to face, that the unemployed man, especially if he has a family, is in an impossible position in battling with the difficulties of life. The significance that I see in the Taoiseach's reply is that he states he is aware that "unemployment figures have increased in recent weeks". The facts are that, since the present Government attained power, unemployment figures have increased unceasingly and unfailingly month by month, until now, almost two years after the achievement of power by the present Administration, we have 25,000 more people signing at the labour exchanges than we had before they took office. That 25,000 more includes men and women who are entitled to register. There is a vast number, as we know very well, in rural areas particularly, who do not avail of the opportunity to register, but who live from day to day in the hope of getting work.
In the course of replies to supplementary questions, the Taoiseach added that he did not consider that this situation was critical. If it is not a critical situation, it is hard to define the meaning of words. We have not seen for almost 11 years as many unemployed as we have at present, in every trade that you examine. Particularly in the last 12 months, since the advent of the austerity Budget of 12 months ago, every single trade and industry has been on the decline so far as the volume of unemployment is concerned. So far as the ordinary person can judge, the entire situation can be traced to the policy of the Government, primarily in restricting credit, in making it impossible for persons who run businesses to expand employment, in making it imperative for them to reduce the volume of their employment, in making it difficult for manufacturers and those who need credit for the operation of industry, trade and business, to obtain money to carry on.
This Government has succeeded within two years in bringing our peopleback to a wartime condition. Everybody is aware that the building trade in the City of Dublin is in a deplorable state. It is hard to find words to describe the present condition of the building trade. Three years ago there was full employment for building operatives in this city, houses were being built by the Dublin Corporation at an unprecedented rate; and that resulted not alone in full employment for skilled men and for builders' labourers but in the position that those who had emigrated to England had to be brought back and placed in employment here. These men have been thrown again on the labour market and are emigrating by the hundred. We are informed by the representatives of the unions of skilled operatives that something like 500 carpenters alone are unemployed in this city—while there is a crying need for houses. Is this an accident? Does this come about purely because of accidental circumstances? No reasonable person will believe that.
Did not the Central Bank advise the creation of unemployment?
As Deputy MacBride correctly says, this is a direct result of the policy of the present Government in adopting the policy set out in the Central Bank Report.
There were only 35,000 unemployed when we were in office—the lowest number in the history of this country.
Can any Deputy representing a rural area deny that unemployment abounds in every rural area, that the small towns have queues outside labour exchanges such as have not been seen for a very long time? A simple examination reveals that the greatest blow that has been struck by this Administration regarding employment in rural areas has been the cutting down of operations under the Local Authorities (Works) Act. From the time the Act came into existence there has been, on the part of the Party now constituting the Government, a spleen and a dislike concerning it, because it emanated from the Labour Benches, because it was beneficialto the people of the rural areas. It is being killed—and what is the result? We have thousands more unemployed in the rural areas than we had before.
They cut down on forestry, too.
Deputy MacBride must restrain himself. Deputy Dunne is entitled to speak without interruption.
Regardless of what may be said by any of the representatives of the Fianna Fáil Party, these facts are well known to every member of the House. Every Deputy meets unemployed men in this city and in towns throughout the country, asking them for work, to find them a job anywhere; and that applies more now than it has done for a very considerable time. What is the alternative? The alternative is emigration, as there does not seem to be any hope for them. It is perfectly plain from the reply made by the Taoiseach to-day that he has not examined the full implications of the position. He said he was aware that there had been an increase in unemployment figures "in recent weeks". There has been an unremitting increase every single month since the present Government came into office. I think it has now reached the phenomenal figure of 86,000, living on the dole and on unemployment benefit. That is the situation that I asked the Taoiseach and the Government to bend its mind to. I do not think it can be described by any other word than "critical".
In my own constituency, a constituency represented also by a member of the Fianna Fáil Party, in the town of Balbriggan, one can see queues outside the labour exchange there such as have not been seen before in living memory. The same applies in Swords, Clondalkin and every other part of County Dublin, and it is repeated in every other county. I want to know from the Taoiseach if there is anything more concrete than the few words we had from him to-day in his mind or in the mind of the Government. Is there something more positive in store for these people who are suffering through unemployment at present?
I directed a question to the Taoiseach to-day similar in import to that addressed by Deputy Dunne. My anxiety in this matter, apart from a dissertation on the causes which may have been the paramount reason for increased unemployment, is to find out if the Government contemplate any immediate measures to deal with the present calamitous state. Many of the people who are in employment are in jeopardy. People are on part time as distinct from people who are fully unemployed. There is an extraordinary increase in the exodus of people from the country, and I urge on the Taoiseach, not in a spirit of embarrassing the Government, but of getting some immediate remedial measure for the people so affected, that the Government step in and put into effect immediately schemes which will absorb at least part of these unemployed people.
There is no doubt that the ill-advised and ill-judged financial and economic policy of the Government is the complete root cause of what has happened. We have the appalling situation that, in 17 or 18 months of office, a Fianna Fáil Government has been able to maintain and sustain an increasing rate of unemployment at the figure of 1,500 per month for its period of office. The really violent impetus of that increase has come as a result of an ill-judged and ill-applied remedy for a financial situation which existed, in the main, in the imagination of the Government.
We come here to-night to press the Taoiseach to realise that the cure for the economic ills of this country is not in over-taxation or restriction of credit, that the time has come for throwing over outmoded and outworn economic theories and for facing immediately the problem of keeping the primary factor in any production in any country at home, that is the labour personnel of the country. In the ultimate analysis, if there is to be any expansion in production, and this Government is prating from morning until night about increasing production, that increase can only come from the strength and solidarity and co-operation of the human element. I am urging on the Taoiseach that thisproblem needs immediate action, lest we do irreparable damage to the country through the loss of more and more of not only our skilled tradesmen but of the youth of the country who are becoming conscious of the fact that there is no stability in employment and no permanency about the future under the economic policy of the Government and who are fleeing the land at a time when they might be of the best service to the State.
When I deal with unemployment, I deal with it as a real live problem of which the Government must be completely conscious. It is only they who can intervene now to provide remedial measures that will put these people into employment and arrest this extraordinary growth of unrest and uncertainty which is in our body economic. We know that, as a direct result of the cumulative effect of misconceived ideas as to trends in external trade, of misapplied directions by a Central Bank and of a calamitous and disastrous financial policy, that the country handed over to the Fianna Fáil Government, geared up for expansion, with more and more people going into industrial employment and being absorbed in employment by way of the building of houses and hospitals, drainage work and clearance work done under the Local Authorities (Works) Act, that particular structure built up with deliberate care and fed by the investment of the capital of this country has been torn down in political venom and spleen. No matter what satisfaction the Government may have got from that, they at least had an immediate duty to the people now suffering the consequences of their ill-judged action to take some steps to ensure that they will not be left in the appalling position of not being able to provide in an adequate way in difficult circumstances for their wives and families.
This unemployment question is a question of a growing calamitous nature. It is not a problem which needs any airy phrases or promises that the Government may do something in the future. Something needs to be done within 24 hours and I now urge on theTaoiseach, as head of the Government, to find some scheme forthwith, the putting into operation of which will ensure that we will keep at home in Ireland and put into work here in Ireland as speedily as possible as many people as possible, to reverse the appalling trend that has been constantly growing since the impact of the dead hand of his economic policy has been felt throughout the country. Not only the cities and towns, but at times even the most remote rural areas have queues at labour exchanges which never existed before and we have arrived at the position that the figure of unemployment has reached the highest point in ten years.
The Taoiseach is entitled to the ten minutes left.
The Taoiseach, as responsible head of the Government, can alone take the necessary step to arrest this appalling and unhealthy growth in the body economic.
There are a couple of remarks made by Deputy Dunne to which I should like to refer at the start. He said that I stated that the situation was not critical. I think what I said was, when it was referred to as a major crisis, that it was not a major crisis but a situation which required the serious attention of the Government, a situation which gave the Government concern and to which the Government intended to devote the necessary attention. It was suggested that the present unemployment was the result of Government policy and that the Government had restricted credit. The Government has not restricted credit. The Government has not been a party at any time to the restriction of credit. The Government is held responsible for the Central Bank Report. The Government had nothing to do with the Central Bank Report—nothing whatever.
It endorsed it.
The Government made quite clear what the basis of our policy was. Our financial policy, in the first instance, was directed towards making ends meet here in this country,towards seeing that expenditure and revenue met each other and balanced. We are told by Deputy Collins that everything was geared up. The gearing we saw was a gearing up to get over a precipice. That was the sort of gearing we had to deal with.
We had, first of all, to deal with the financial question, to see that current expenditure was made to balance with current revenue. When we brought forward that policy, we were told that we were taxing the people for tens of millions which were not required. We shall see when the final accounts are prepared whether those who said that were right or whether I was right. I said that my fear was that we would not be able to balance expenditure with revenue, even after the increased taxation had been imposed, that the expenditure was such that the revenue received from taxation would not meet that expenditure. I am sorry to say that present indications are that it will not. It is nonsense to suggest that we taxed the people for some £10,000,000 which it was not necessary to raise. No Government in its senses would incur the unpopularity of imposing taxes that were not necessary. The difficulty was that everybody wanted expenditure on a large scale, but few were prepared to find the money to meet that expenditure. That was our first problem, and it was the basis of our financial policy so far as taxation was concerned.
We had then another problem, that our balance of payments were running at such a level that they were £61.6 millions on the wrong side, which meant that in a few years our net reserves would have been exhausted, and the country would have been changed from the position of a creditor nation to that of a debtor nation. Surely these were problems which had to be met. It is suggested that we went further than was necessary, and that we did these things for the purpose of restricting employment. That is just sheer nonsense.
That was the result of it.
It was not the result of it. The result, if the necessarymeasures had not been taken, would have been that in a couple of years the country would be in a major crisis, which it would not be possible to remedy.
You are in a major crisis.
We are not. This country is well able to do what any other country can do. We are not, of course, in the position of a totalitarian Government which could say to any employer: "You take this man and find work for him." If we had such powers it might mean that we would be able to deal with the situation and meet all the demands made upon us within 24 hours, but, thank God, we have not that power and we do not want that power. If the people were to have a Government with that power, it would be at the loss of liberties which they prize very highly.
A Deputy
What about the power of the Central Bank?
The Central Bank is an institution established to do certain things. It was given certain freedom to report and it reported. In my opinion, that bank reported against us in the past much more vigorously than it reported against our predecessors, not that they did it because they had any antagonism towards us but that they felt it was their duty to report in that way. One of the happy features of the present situation for me is to see the conversion of some members of Fine Gael. I remember the time when we were working in with the Labour Party, ours was a voice crying in the wilderness as far as certain things were concerned. I am very glad to see their conversion in regard to some of these demands.
Tell us what you propose to do.
It is a question of doing what it is possible to do. Last year about this time there was a situation in which the increased unemployment existed, in the main, in the textile and clothing industries. I have not got an analysis yet of the presentfigures in regard to unemployment in the various trades.
I have the December figures but I have not got the January figures yet. Last year, one of our chief anxieties was in regard to the textile and clothing industries. The Government set about remedying that situation and did it very effectively by affording further protection to industries that were threatened with destruction by dumping and extra imports of goods in the preceding period—stockpiling. These industries were approaching a situation or were in a situation in which they were failing to give employment or to get sale for the goods which they were manufacturing. We set about remedying that situation by the same measures by which we had provided employment in these industries originally. There are some tens of thousands in protected employment as a result of the policy which the Fianna Fáil Government introduced and has steadfastly pursued. We applied the same measures that we had applied so successfully from the time this Government was established.
In the clothing industry, some 4,000 workers had been unemployed. That number has been cut down to 2,000 as a result of the measures which we introduced. I admit that it was not done in 24 hours. These things cannot be done in 24 hours. Similarly, in the textile industry, the number unemployed this time last year was about 2,000. That number has been cut down to less than one-half—from 1,900 to, I think, 800. The moment you are able to analyse the figures for unemployment you are able to take certain measures to remedy the position. Present indications are that the greatest amount of unemployment exitsts in the construction and building industry. A good many reasons are given as to the cause of that unemployment.
I am not definitely certain what the cause is but various causes have been suggested. One statement made is that in the rural areas—and it is a matter to which we have to look forward and about which we must take some measures—the requirements ofhousing are gradually being met. I saw some time ago that, as a result of a survey made in the Borough of Dún Laoghaire, it was indicated that they had already erected the number of houses they want. I am not quite sure of that but I heard something to that effect while I was away.
It was stated that within two years the numbers required would be met.
I heard that it was stated somewhere that, if we are to maintain employment in the building industry, it will be necessary to turn to construction work of another character because the building of houses by local authorities or by private enterprise assisted by State grants accounts for only one-half of the forces employed in the building industry. As I say, I have not yet made an analysis of the figures in regard to unemployment and if you want to adopt remedies to deal with the situation, the one thing you want to know is what is the cause of the unemployment. We know what were the causes in the textile and clothing industry and in that case we set about applying the remedy as soon as the causes became apparent. In the case of the building industry, once we find out definitely what is the cause we shall deal with it. Someone has suggested that higher rates of interest for building loans operated to cause unemployment. Others suggested that there has been some restriction of credit by the banks. We are not responsible for anything of that kind. We have never said to the banks that they should restrict credit. In fact, if there was clear evidence that they were restricting credit for some special reasons which we were not satisfied were in the general interest, we would immediately ask them to change that policy.
Will you do so now?
We have got to be satisfied first of all that these allegations are true. I know it was said last year—I have not had time in recent months to go into it but I propose doing so as soon as possible—that thebanks were restricting credit, but facts and figures were given against that.
No, no.
I shall try to find out whether it is a fact by getting the relevant figures, but I do know that when this suggestion was made last year there was no evidence that the banks were restricting credit. I know it is said that high rates of interestare being charged, but it has also been said that there were certain reasons that compelled that course from the point of view of the banks in order to safeguard their depositors. However, we shall have all this out on another occasion.
I hope so.
The Dáil adjourned at 11 p.m. until Thursday, 5th February, at 3 p.m.