When progress was reported yesterday, I was saying that, in order to discuss the Estimate for Gaeltacht Services satisfactorily, we should have a reasonably complete picture of the year's trading. These figures are not likely to be available for some time and I asked the Minister to give us as much information as he could, not alone about the year's trading, but about the prospects for expansion for the coming year. He has been kind enough to tell me that the total stock on hand of materials in respect of the rural industries side of Gaeltacht Services on 31st March, 1956, was £249,190; and of manufactured products £217,944, making a total of £467,134.
I also asked the Minister, in reference to his statement about the provision of machinery and equipment for the Kilcar factory, whether he would let us know what the total capital expenditure had been during the past two years, and, whether or not, the necessary expenditure has now been provided so that the factory will be able to go ahead, in the knowledge that the maximum production is possible, and that there has been no hold back by reason of essential equipment not being provided. The Estimates indicate that there has been an increase of £6,700 provided for tweed and nearly £13,000 for knitwear. There are also increases, which seem to be substantial, in respect of advertisements and wages—an increase of over £6,000. That may appear a relatively small figure, but, last year and the year before, the Minister reminded us that the wages bill had increased during both of the preceding years by £20,000. It seems to be the case that, as far as the total expenditure on the rural industries is concerned, about one-third is spent on wages.
The reason I deal with these costs is to try to secure from the Minister a statement as to whether the increased activities, increased output and increased sales of Gaeltacht Services, which we are all very happy to note, indicate a larger surplus for investment in the expansion of these industries or for reserves to meet depreciation and other needs. The essential question in these trading accounts is the relation which the total cost bears to the output. Leaving aside, for the moment, the salaries, wages and allowances of the office, and anything that could not be said to be properly part of the actual administration of the rural industries themselves, one would like to know whether the cost per unit has been reduced by virtue of the increased output and also of the fact that, in respect of the products of these industries, the demand fortunately exceeds the supply.
I trust that will continue, and I have no doubt that it will, in view of the boom conditions that exist outside. At the same time, while these conditions exist, every opportunity ought to be taken to see that the greatest efficiency, and economy consistent with efficiency, is obtained. The total receipts which the Minister estimates have gone up by £20,000. Receipts from sales from the products of the rural industries, at £520,000, show an increase of £20,000 over last year. That is a very substantial figure, but having regard to the increase in costs, most of which, the Minister said, are unavoidable, the estimate is rather cautious in allowing only £20,000 for increased receipts. I think that could not be described as entirely satisfactory, having regard to the increases under all the sub-heads of the Vote.
What I am naturally anxious about is that the production and output should go ahead at the maximum possible rate, believing that thereby the burden of costs will be reduced; but we have to depend on the Minister to give us figures which will corroborate my hope that that is the situation and that it will obtain in an improving degree in the future.
The Minister did not refer, either, to market prices or conditions. One knows that fluctuations and changes take place and in spite of the boom conditions to which I have referred continuing and being likely to continue for some time in the international market, which is becoming daily more competitive and where newer and stronger competitors are every day emerging, it stands to reason that we must be prepared, by having adequate reserves and having the maximum possible amount of well-directed investment in these industries, for eventualities that may arise. It is only once a year that members of the Dáil can voice their opinion in regard to this matter.
It was very welcome information that half the output of the tweed industry is exported and perhaps the Minister would tell us whether the position, which he says is better, so far as the United States market is concerned, has improved substantially. As a matter of information, I should also like to know whether Coras Tráchtála have been able to assist, or whether the Gaeltacht Services branch feel that they themselves are in a position to investigate the possibilities of the American market. If there is an organisation representing Irish exporters generally, I suppose it would be only natural to expect that the tweed industry, of such importance in the Gaeltacht areas, should receive special care and attention.
I was glad also to hear from the Minister that new designs are being introduced in the knitwear industry. I have heard it stated that we are not always up-to-date with our designs and I wonder whether more could not be done to bring in modern designs and to provide special designers, even as consultants. I have no fault to find with the persons who are responsible for designs at the present time. We have them in the central marketing depot; we have a knitwear designer and also a designer in the toys industry. But as has been shown in the case of the Irish carpet industry in regard to securing a foothold in the United States, if articles of a luxury or semi-luxury character are being produced and if the choicest market is being sought, the question of design is of the greatest importance. We see that in connection with the strides the French and the Italians are making and the enormous labour and expense to which they go to keep themselves in the forefront and in the headlines.
When I asked the Minister last year whether a showroom could be provided in a more central place, I was told that the central marketing depot ought, perhaps, to suffice. However, if we are depending on selling our goods to visitors and if we expect those visitors to spread the light when they return to the United States, or wherever they come from, I think that, if it is not possible to provide a central showroom, the good offices of the leading shops ought to be sought to get them to give the products of this and other Irish industries a better show than often seems to be given.
The Minister told us that a new centre had been established for knitwear. He has not stated where, and I have always thought that more could be done to encourage cottage industries than is done at present. I am not suggesting that it will be an easy matter—in fact, it is a very difficult one—but we know that in Switzerland and in Germany, they have machines suitable for these smaller industries. They have a longer tradition and, perhaps, a better tradition in some respects than we have, but I would be all in favour of sending some of those who are responsible for the industries to see what is going on in countries like Switzerland, with special reference to trying to provide machinery that would fit in with the development of rural electrification and its spread in the congested areas. The Commission on Population and Emigration referred to this matter in paragraph 429.
A great deal more will have to be done in the way of the education of the worker and in trying to pursue as far as possible the liaison between the vocational schools and the local industry, so that young workers will acquire not alone the most up-to-date skills but a knowledge of design and of the craft, with reference to the market point of view that might otherwise be denied to them. In fact, the more these young workers feel themselves associated with and part of these industries, the better.
It is satisfactory also that there has been such an improvement in the sale of marine products. In this Estimate, the purchase of carrageen stands at £15,000. That would indicate that there is an improvement in respect of that commodity. The seaweeds come to £22,000. These amounts may appear comparatively small, but they show what can be accomplished in these sea-girth areas where the people have very few opportunities, as the Commission on Emigration points out, to secure a full livelihood from agriculture. To the extent that we can direct their attention to the riches of the sea and to the advantages of utilising these products, the better it will be for our economy as a whole. The total expenditure on marine products seems to be about £51,500. The amount paid out is £49,000. That indicates that practically the whole of the money goes to the people who harvest these products or who are working at the local centres.
The Minister referred to housing grants and I should be glad if he would tell us the total number of houses built so far under Gaeltacht housing grants. It is satisfactory, and is, I hope, a sign of new life and activity and a recognition of modern requirements in relation to housing, that the Minister has been able to report the completion of 200 new houses and the improvement of a large number. He has not told us what the areas concerned are. In view of the importance of providing housing accommodation, not only for the people themselves, but for visitors to the Irish-speaking districts, who, I think, should get the best possible accommodation, comparable with that which they enjoy at home, or would get elsewhere on holiday, it would be interesting to know how these new houses and improvements to existing houses are divided as between the different Gaeltacht areas.
The general statement of the Minister indicates that very good progress has been made, but one has the feeling that, if the Gaeltacht industries were completely independent of, shall we say, any immediate connection with the Department of Finance and the direction that Department exercises, they might have more scope; those responsible for the conduct of these industries would then have more scope, I have not the slightest doubt, for displaying greater initiative, taking greater advantage of their opportunities and embarking on the risks normally involved in ventures of this kind.
We do not know whether this office will be taken over under the new Ministry, or what the position will be. At all times, there has been a feeling that Gaeltacht industries should be given the greatest latitude and that those responsible for administering them should be given the greatest freedom to take the necessary decisions. After all, if they are to be run successfully, one must look ahead, not alone for two years, but for three years, or perhaps longer; one must plan one's capital requirements and the building of one's stocks of essential materials on that basis. The industries do, of course, provide a certain amount of employment and provide much needed activities in the centres; but there are a great many areas even in the Gaeltacht itself, small and diminishing though the area may be, which have not the advantage of having centres.
It is for the Government to state what their general policy is with regard to better provision for the people in the Gaeltacht areas, so that, if it is at all possible—as I have said, I know it is an extremely difficult problem to try to maintain our young people in employment at home, preferably in permanent employment and work of an industrial character, since that seems to be the kind of work that appeals to them—employment of a proper kind will be provided for them. If the Government realises its responsibility in that respect, it will have to do very much more than this Vote for Gaeltacht Services indicates.
We have only to look at the figures for emigration issued recently to realise that these areas, particularly in the North and West, are the areas which have suffered most severely, the areas which have had the largest decline in employment. That is borne out by the statement from the Central Statistics Office. Side by side with that, we have the very grave situation in which the number of girls emigrating has almost reached the high level of male emigration.
Speaking on another Vote in connection with this matter with regard to the younger age groups approaching marriageable age, the members of which might be settling down and founding families in other circumstances or in other places, I said that the whole economic life of the country will be affected because of the high proportion of these age groups leaving the country. We are becoming a more aged population. If we want to make economic progress, we can only make that progress through our young people, with their capacity for work and their ability to acquire skill. It is through them that the greatest effort will be made and the greatest results will be obtained. They are the richest raw material we have.
The Government, however, do not seem to realise the position. They have made no effort to come forward and tell the House that they have any plan or policy in which all Parties and leaders throughout the country generally could participate—a policy behind which our young people could feel there is a plan, a policy which, while it might take a certain time to show results, would at least have the merit that we could all go out and do our utmost in an effort to make it both effective and successful. If we cannot do more than is being done at present to revitalise these communities in the western and northern counties—I am taking these as an example because they seem to be the worst cases revealed by the census—then the outlook is very dismal indeed.
The Commission on Emigration reported that a large scheme should be introduced, of a nature that would bring a substantial portion of the population in these areas into employment over the period of the year when they would be at home living on their own holdings. They were actuated by the fact that migration to England has been a feature of the life of these communities for generations. As the commission says, the unfortunate thing about the recent decline is that whole families are going, and where formerly the young persons or the fathers in the household went to England or Scotland for a season and came back, the danger now is that, with the full employment that is in existence in Britain, if they are able to secure accommodation they will, as they have been doing, bring over their families, lock, stock and barrel. That is an extremely serious situation. If we are to continue to lose these young people for a further period at the rate we have been losing them during the past few years, we cannot say that there is much future for the western counties and for the people living in these areas.
The Commission on Emigration, recommending that there should be a large scheme to provide employment for at least six months of the year, stated in paragraph 420 on page 165:—
"We think it unlikely that the State would undertake a project of such magnitude without first testing its efficacy by means of a pilot scheme sufficiently comprehensive to make it a realistic approach to the problem. We recommend such a pilot scheme and consider that it should embrace areas comprising 5 to 10 per cent. of the holdings of £4 valuation and under (which would represent 2,500 to 5,000 households) calling for a yearly wage bill of £250,000 to £500,000. The men concerned could be profitably employed and the nation would benefit from their labour, as large-scale schemes of afforestation, reclamation of hill-land, farm improvements to permit the use of agricultural machinery and construction of tourist roads would become immediately practicable."
That and other recommendations are in the hands of the Government for a considerable time, but we have heard nothing from responsible Ministers as to whether any action is being taken in connection with them.
In conclusion, I urge that, gratifying as the progress under the Gaeltacht Services may be and satisfactory as the employment and output may be— employment is given, I think, to about 1,500 persons and a great deal of it is full-time employment—it is not sufficient. It is only a very small contribution towards this immense and frightening problem that looms up in front of us. I ask the Minister to take steps to see that something larger and more promising is done—something that would be a real effort on a national scale—and to try to get activity of a general character in connection with land improvement going in the congested areas, and to get the Government to take steps in that connection as quickly as ever they can. With organisation, with men of enthusiasm and men of vision and experience——
Notice taken that 20 Deputies were not present; House counted, and 20 Deputies being present,
