Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 5 Jun 1962

Vol. 195 No. 14

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Disemployment of Bog Workers.

15.

Mr. O.J. Flanagan

asked the Minister for Transport and Power if he is aware of the very serious situation which has arisen on Garryhinch bog, near Mountmellick, County Laois, where forty workers have lost their seasonal employment and a further thirty workers are under notice by Bord na Móna because of the fact that machinery is now available to harvest the turf which was otherwise handled and saved by man power; and if Bord na Móna will provide alternative work for these men in view of the fact that there is no other work of any kind available in the locality for these men, most of whom are married and have dependents and who are now faced with emigration; if the Board will dispense with the use of this machinery on the bog in question; and if he will make a general statement as to the future employment prospects at Garryhinch.

16.

Mr. Lalor

asked the Minister for Transport and Power if he is aware that forty men were paid off by Bord na Móna at Garryhinch Bog, County Offlay, recently; and if he will take steps to see to it that they be re-employed.

Mr. Childers

With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to take Questions No. 15 and No. 16 together.

The recruitment and employment of workers is the sole responsibility of Bord na Móna.

On enquiry I have been informed by Bord na Móna that 40 male workers employed on a day to day basis have recently been laid off at Garryhinch bog owing to the introduction of harvesting machinery. It is the Board's policy to mechanise operations as far as possible and only in this way can production and sale of turf be maximised and steady employment for regular workers guaranteed.

Mr. O.J. Flanagan

Might I ask the Minister if he is in a position to state that it is Government policy first, to develop the bogs and, secondly, to provide employment?

Mr. Childers

Bord na Móna is a State company that must repay the advances made by the State and pay its way. The competition between turf and coal is so keen that in the interests of the preservation of maximum employment it is necessary for the Board to adopt the most modern methods of operation. The workers were aware of the fact that they were employed on a day-to-day basis for the footing of turf and it came as no surprise to them and they were not deceived by the introduction of the machine.

Mr. O.J. Flanagan

The Minister will agree that the introduction of this machine means the disemployment of 70 workers and it would be a very serious matter if the Board introduced similar machines in other places?

Mr. Childers

It is hoped to increase the total number of workers through the expansion of the electricity network and through the increase in the use of turf for electricity production and also through an expansion in the sale of briquettes. Bord na Móna has faced the reality over a considerable number of years and under different Governments that it would be impossible to compete with coal, which must be allowed in free of duty, unless its whole system was fully mechanised and geared to operate with the utmost efficiency.

Mr. O.J. Flanagan

Would the Minister ask the Board to consider re-employing these 70 men? I am sure alternative employment can be found for them. Would the Minister ask the Board to consider sympathetically the cases of these men?

Mr. Childers

I am quite sure the Board will do its best to re-employ the men if suitable employment is there for them. The Board is well aware that I would like to see the maximum number of men employed.

Mr. Dillon

Will the Minister not agree that it is vitally important that a State body should set a good example to industrialists generally to ensure that with the introduction of mechanisation or automation special precautions would be taken to ensure that persons displaced would be, even at some cost, maintained in employment so that the introduction of automation and mechanisation would not be indissolubly associated in the minds of the men with redundancy and unemployment?

Mr. Childers

In a great many cases, State companies try to avoid dismissing men and to ensure that there are no cases of redundency. This particular group of men knew absolutely that they were being employed on a day-to-day basis for footing purposes, that their work was dependent on good weather and they were in a different category from those workers who expect, in good weather, to have a complete season's work. They were told that the work was on a day-to-day basis and while it is regre table that their services had to be dispensed with they were aware at the time of their employment that this might be the case.

Mr. Tully

Is the Minister not aware that in order to live in some of those country districts a number of people are dependent on three or four months' work every year with Bord na Móna? Despite the fact that these men were engaged on a temporary basis it came as a great shock to them that in the middle of a three-months period they should be told to take a ticket to Britain.

Mr. Childers

These men were perfectly aware that they were employed for footing turf for a short period and they obtained employment on that basis which they otherwise would not have had.

Mr. O.J. Flanagan

I am seeking the Ceann Comhairle's permission to raise the matter on the adjournment in view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply.

An Ceann Comhairle

I will communicate with the Deputy.