Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 20 May 1970

Vol. 246 No. 11

Committee on Finance. - Shannon Free Airport Development Company Limited (Amendment) Bill, 1970 : Second Stage.

Minister for Industry and Commerce (Mr. Lalor)

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

Before proceeding to the detailed provisions of the Bill, I feel I should make some general comment to place these proposals in perspective.

My responsibility as Minister for Industry and Commerce relates to the industrial development and housing activities of the Shannon Free Airport Development Company Limited and any other function it may carry out except those concerned with tourism and aviation which are within the province of the Minister for Transport and Power.

Some time ago, in connection with the overall review of the whole industrialisation programme, my predecessor announced that the company would function as an organ of industrial development within the Limerick-Clare-North Tipperary region—known as the mid-west region—having due regard to the overall national responsibilities assigned to the Industrial Development Authority.

This decision was intended to satisfy within the area a need that exists for services to assist industrial development at regional level. The services to be provided by the company will, I hope, assist the redevelopment and expansion of existing industry; bring about better co-operation and use of initiative by local and regional groups and stimulate linkage and mutual customer relationships between existing and new industries and services. The company will also have the task of increasing the effectiveness of the facilities being provided for development of small industry.

The mid-west region is important as a key location in the west of Ireland, capable of development to a degree which would counter-balance the attractions of the eastern area for people and for business enterprises. Limerick-Shannon has already a considerable industrial base that is suitable for planned expansion so as to stimulate and create opportunities for enterprise and employment in the region and contribute to the reduction of emigration and the improvement of social conditions in the whole area.

The proven expertise of the Shannon Free Airport Development Company Limited in the promotion and development of industry and amenity should be a great asset to the mid-west. SFADCO was incorporated as a limited liability company in 1959. Its functions are as authorised by its memorandum and articles and the State is the sole shareholder. Consequently the Acts relating to the company from 1959 onwards merely authorise the appropriate Minister to grant sums for specified current uses and the issue of share capital and repayable advances by the Minister for Finance for capital purposes. This practice is followed in the present Bill.

The objectives adopted by the company in 1959 were related to the safeguarding of the airport and its employment potential and were in short:—

(i) to develop an industrial estate alongside the airport for industries oriented towards air freight;

(ii) to develop warehousing facilities to encourage carriers to use the airport as a break-bulk centre;

(iii) to promote Shannon as a point of entry for tourists to Ireland, particularly to western areas, and to develop and encourage commercial and passenger air services to and through the airport.

The success, which has resulted from efforts generated largely by the company, is such that it is now possible to change the aim from that of maintaining an airport to using it as a major asset in regional economic development.

The achievements of the company in the development of an industrial estate have attracted attention internationally as well as given us encouragement at home. At a recent date, over 4,500 workers were employed on the estate and these comprised about 2,900 men and 1,600 women.

The staff of the company itself, plus those employed at the airport, in community services, construction and other activities, accounted for the employment of a further 2,360. At the moment there are 30 manufacturing firms from six countries, including Ireland, on the industrial estate and 17 servicing and warehousing concerns. The net balance of trade arising from the industrial estate, exports less imports, was over £13 million in 1969 as compared with less than £3 million in 1964. Industrial exports from the estate are about 20 per cent of national industrial exports. Up to the present capital expenditure by the company on industry and tourism is about £6½ million of which about 90 per cent has been spent on the industrial estate at the airport, about 9 per cent on industry in the region and 1 per cent on tourist amenities. In addition, something over £5 million has been expended on housing and on the creation of a Shannon community.

The capital expenditure in so far as it relates to industry and tourism has been met out of share capital subscribed by the Minister for Finance and in so far as it relates to housing out of repayable advances made by the Minister for Finance and housing grants made by me. In addition, the company receives grants-in-aid which are used to meet industrial, including training and equipment, grants at the airport and the company's running expenses. The total amount of grant-in-aid issued to the company up to March 31st, 1970, is about £4½ million and this can be broken down roughly to £2½ million for grants to industries and £2 million for the running expenses of the company. In the selection of projects for the airport, the company has placed emphasis on the provision of worthwhile skilled employment, the maintenance of a proper balance between male and female workers, aiming towards 60 per cent male employment, and diversification of industry. This policy, despite the few inevitable setbacks, has maintained the overall stability of employment at the airport.

The achievement by the Shannon Company of an average of 450 new jobs a year has been due in no small part to the customs-free facilities and special tax concessions made available at the airport. The company has also been aided by the very significant investment in infrastructure and housing. But the expertise and dedication of the management and staff has been a major factor in getting good results from whatever natural advantages were at their disposal. I take this occasion and opportunity of complimenting the company and its team on their enthusiasm for the job in hand and on maintaining a consistently high level of achievement.

The company has recognised that an integral part of the programme to develop an industrial estate at Shannon was the establishment of a strong resident community near the estate. Because of the industrial development proposals for the remainder of the region, and the large commuter element in Shannon's work force, this objective has now assumed increased importance. As the population expands, every effort is being made within the limits of the company's resources to provide essential facilities appropriate to the nature and size of the community. Apart from the State investment of £5 million in housing and community services, already mentioned, there has been a private investment estimated at £½ million. Speculative builders are already operating successfully at Shannon Airport and the company hopes shortly to complete negotiations with a property developer in relation to town centre developments. The company's present house building programme is designed to reach a population level of 6,000 by March, 1974. This is an achievable target on the basis of the current annual rate of construction. There were at a recent date 877 completed company houses and 187 under construction at the airport to which private enterprise had added 66 completed houses and 34 under construction. The Shannon town population now exceeds 3,000 persons and its natural growth plus the expected influx should reach the set targets in due time.

Planning for Shannon must, of course, now be related to industrial planning for the region as a whole. The company, with the full co-operation of the local authorities and of the regional development organisation, has already published a regional plan which represents its thinking on optimum development for industry and related matters in the region. The publication of this plan was intended to stimulate comment on its implications. I understand that, following up-dating and examination of its capital budgeting, revisions in the plan will be made by the company from year to year.

Certain action in the region does not have to await this detailed planning. Work has started at two industrial locations in Limerick city and a factory has been constructed for Scanglo Ltd. to establish an engineering operation at Newcastlewest. The company's promotional work in attracting industry and in stimulating local initiatives in the region is, of course, a continuing process.

The construction of factories and the attraction of firms forms only a part of the industrialisation drive. Attention to the physical and social environment within which industry and workers must operate and to the provision of infrastructure is also essential. Coordinated action by many bodies at local, regional and national levels is required before the company's efforts can bear fruit. The co-operation forthcoming in the mid-west region is encouraging.

The major new provision in this Bill is set out in section 2 which enables me, as Minister, to issue grants to the company for industrial promotional work in the region. It includes a reference to the fact that regional activities are undertaken having regard to the general functions of the Industrial Development Authority.

The company's existing powers in relation to industry at the airport will not be diminished or otherwise affected by the Bill.

Sections 3 and 4 make it clear that industrial incentives in the region outside the airport will be payable by the Industrial Development Authority although the authority may delegate to the company powers to approve grants or other financial facilities in respect of industries in the region.

Section 5, 6 and 7 are designed to make it clear, in the first place, that the conditions on which State finance has been provided for the erection and subsidisation of dwellings at the airport do not oblige the company to confine lettings to persons employed in the industrial estate and, in particular, do not imply that the widows and dependants of such persons or an unemployed worker cannot continue as tenants. It had not, of course, been the policy of the company in the past to take such a strict view of their powers but the sections mentioned are deemed necessary to remove any doubts or anxieties which may exist.

The conditions on which capital grants for housing were made to the company were related to general housing legislation and the payment of grants thereunder as it stood in 1963. Sections 6 and 7 also provide a necessary up-dating in the 1963 terminology to take account of revisions in the Housing Acts. The effect, briefly, is to continue to make available to the company the housing grants and repayable advances in the manner to which it has heretofore been entitled.

Previous legislation has set out the maximum amounts of financing which may be made available to the company under various heads for periods of about three years at a time. The Act of 1968 made provision for the period up to about 31st March, 1971, on the basis of the company's then existing responsibilities. It was intended that any developments in the company's ex-additional financial arrangements for tended area of operations would be provided for in subsequent legislation.

It is now necessary to extend the relevant maxima so as to provide for the financing of the company's regional industrial promotion, including the erection of factories for sale or rent as may be deemed appropriate in places in the region outside the airport. It is intended in this Bill to provide for all the activities of the company in the period up to about March, 1973.

The maximum amount which the Minister for Finance may subscribe in taking up shares of the company is at present fixed at £8 million and section 8 of this Bill provides for an increase of £9 million in the amount of such share capital which is used mainly for the provision of factories and ancillary works.

Section 9 relates to the maximum amount of grants which may be provided to meet the running expenses of the company in respect of its activities at the airport and in the region, and to enable the company to give grants and other assistance to manufacturing industry at the airport.

The total amount of grant-in-aid which may be made by the Minister for Industry and Commerce, or in respect of tourism and aviation activities by the Minister for Transport and Power, is being increased from £6 million to £10 million. In this connection, I should explain that a substantial part of the company's running expenses arises from tourism promotion and that this is now met by a special grant-in-aid for which the Minister for Transport and Power is accountable but which, nevertheless, comes within the overall limitation in section 9 of this Bill.

Section 10 of the Bill relates to repayable advances by the Minister for Finance to the company in relation to the provision of houses and community services at the airport. The aggregate of such advances is being increased by £3 million from the existing limit of £7 million to £10 million.

In regard to section 11 my predecessor was advised at the time of the making of Statutory Instrument No. 219 of 1968, which transferred to my Department the ministerial functions in relation to the activities of the company, other than tourism and aviation, that the relevant portions of the Ministers and Secretaries Acts do not clearly avail to adapt the principal Act in the manner necessary to achieve the desired transfer of consequential functions. Accordingly, section 11 is designed to clarify the manner in which certain formal matters relating to the reports and accounts of the company and to approval of pension schemes shall be carried out.

The remaining sections of the Bill are self-explanatory and are in the usual form; they relate to the date of commencement, meeting expenses out of voted moneys and legal citations.

It is my intention to bring these provisions into operation by Order very shortly after their enactment since the company is already engaged in regional work in anticipation of the necessary legislative approval.

I have no doubt that the House will agree with me as to the suitability of the company as an active agent in industrial promotion on a regional basis and in setting guidelines for regional expansion and co-operation in this country. I have no hesitation in recommending this measure to the House as one which will produce tangible benefits in terms of standard of living, reduction in emigration, and improved living conditions generally, not alone directly in the mid-west region but, by its influence and example, throughout the whole country.

Mr. Donegan

It is rather interesting to find that, for a different reason, the Fianna Fáil Government have succeeded in producing an infrastructure for industry in a situation where industry will develop without their planning for it, in fact having rejected all the advice they got on planning for industry right back as far as 1964 when the National Industrial and Economic Council recommended that there should be growth centres and a declaration of where the growth centres should be, that there should be planning for these growth centres, that roads and other services should be provided through the local authorities and the Department to serve these growth centres. The Shannon Development Company started with the object in mind of saving Shannon Airport, a most laudable object, but it brought willy-nilly the infrastructure for that type of modern development in industry for which my party were shouting as far back as 1964 and which is included in our policy for a Just Society which was first announced in detailed form in 1965.

Since then Fianna Fáil have resisted our efforts to get them to declare where these growth centres should be, and the only progress in this regard is the small development at Galway and Waterford, when there should have been a regionalised development all over the country, backed up by the local authorities and the State Department in relation to the necessary infrastructure.

We are delighted that the Shannon Free Airport Development Company is succeeding and that there is such expansion there. It has the advantage that it is building up the airport which is of great value not only to our industry but to our tourism.

The building of houses for workers is something we want to see happening. I have always felt, I know not why, that when there was good housing the workers were there, that when there was good housing, living standards were good and that the mental and behavioural standards of the young people were good. The industries seemed to come naturally after that. We have never seen a provincial town or city where there were empty houses; people cannot live in houses if they cannot get jobs. Therefore it is laudable and proper that this Bill provides for increasing the number of houses available not only to workers but to other people if they feel so inclined.

The increase in the amount of money the company are permitted to have from the Minister for Finance is in keeping with the provisions of other legislation for State companies. Money must be pumped in if industry is to be developed.

I agree that the provision of an average of 450 new jobs a year is quite satisfactory. The amount of money they cost is extraordinary. I referred last week to the amount of money it took to keep an extra 4,000 people in employment last year. The figure was £23 million. A total of 12,000 people left agriculture, so that the figure for new jobs that have to be provided would produce this net result of 16,000 new jobs. When you divide 16,000 into £23 million in grants, apart from other incentives that are given, you start to realise how much capital is needed.

As I said last week, there is a false statistic in everything, and if I were to point to the false statistic in this tonight it would be that every job creates another job, and for every person on a production line producing goods there are other people producing services for them whether they be services to provide them with recreation or the necessities of life. Therefore it cannot be put down at so many pounds to create one job.

I believe this sort of planning must be developed all over the country. We on this side of the House have no intention of holding up this legislation and we wish the Minister well in the promotion of this project.

The extension of the area in which the Shannon Free Airport Development Company would operate was first announced by the late Deputy Donogh O'Malley prior to a by-election. However, that is no criticism. Whether it was stated at such a time or for any other reason is of little consequence. The principle is right and the whole development for industry along regionalised lines is absolutely necessary. It might lose the Government votes in Leitrim if they were to announce that the growth centre would be in Sligo rather than in Leitrim, but it is necessary to say it. It is better for a man to have to move to Sligo from Leitrim than to have to move to Birmingham from Leitrim.

I remember a few years ago being in Birmingham and trying to get a grain dryer from a company who were late with their delivery. I was sitting in the office of the works manager while he made five or six phone calls to various companies within a mile or two of him, in Birmingham, to suppliers of equipment like compressors, switches, thermostat controls and various other things which his company did not make. All these parts were being made within a few miles of one another. At the end of one conversation he arranged to have a chat on his way home with the person who was supplying one component part.

In this way one can see how over the centuries industry was built up in England. One industry in an area very often became dependent on and complementary to another. This particular type of regionalisation should come about here for another and different reason. The saving of Shannon airport is a good development and will create and multiply industries in addition to the one which the Minister actually gets and to which he gives a grant and establishes in the area.

For this reason we on this side of the House are very pleased to give such passage through the House of this Bill as the Minister desires, unless something comes up in the debate which might raise doubts as to any work on the Committee Stage. We regard this as a good Bill, a necessary development and one which we would hope to see the Minister putting into effect by regulation as soon as possible.

Mr. M. O'Leary

All parties in the House are agreed on the necessity to industrialise these areas. Shannon has been a successful experiment. An area, easily measurable, which did not have any industrial investment to speak of now employs the number mentioned in the Minister's speech—about 4,000. The average rate of 450 new jobs a year in that area is a pretty good achievement.

It has, of course, been at the expense of very large State investment. In 1968, the then Minister, Deputy Childers, spoke about the importance of building up a community in the area and the amount of cash that would need to be invested in the social infrastructure, houses and so on. It is rather disappointing that private builders have not contributed and have not participated in this matter to any great extent. There was mention in 1968 by the then Minister of a private builder coming in. Is there reference in the Minister's speech to it?

Mr. Lalor

Yes.

Mr. M. O'Leary

The State investment of £5 million in housing and community services must be compared with a private investment of only £½ million. So the State has been involved in very heavy capital investment here in housing and services and there has not been the same contribution on the part of private investors to this heavy cost.

We have learned enough about industrialisation now to know that in building up large-scale industry in an area it is very important to build up a community. There has been certain criticism in the Press over recent months that the Shannon town to some extent was a town without a heart, a town that had no community centre. The residents in the town have energetically set about changing this state of affairs, to give the place some community life, but it is still a big problem. The criticism has been made that there is no natural centre to the new Shannon town, in other words, that it is a place that has no life, although there are people living there. Previous Ministers have recognised as an important problem, something to be surmounted in bringing industry to an area, the necessity to create a living organ environment in an area without an industrial tradition.

Shannon is an area that has been marked to some extent by bad industrial relations. We hope it has outlived this phase in its history. I think the Governments of the day were largely responsible for this state of affairs because the companies which did not understand our system of industrial relations before coming in to set up the industries had not been adequately briefed as to how we conducted negotiations on behalf of employees. At least it could be said that in the investment offices and the Government offices, the IDA, and so on, the word had gone out, evidently, to go soft in dealing with foreign investors in the matter of how we organised our employees. The comment could be made fairly that the management subsequently made wrong decisions, acted in a fashion more in the traditions of the country that they came from than in those of the country in which they established the industries. I hope that has been corrected now and that industrialists coming to the area are given full information about our practices in industrial relations.

Of course, the Shannon industrial development was seen to be an integral part of a whole industrialisation policy in this mid-western region. The Minister, even at this stage, can point to very little achievement in the surrounding area. Newcastle West is mentioned and one other place in Limerick city. This is an important aspect of the company's work. While the Minister states that it is an important part of their objective that they promote industry in the region, there is little to show for it so far outside of the Shannon complex itself.

It is not socially desirable that workers in this area should travel, by car, bus or otherwise, 50 or 60 miles to their work. It is important that over the entire region industries are built up contiguous to the people's homes. One cannot plan adequately in the area unless one has agreed on the whole strategy of growth centres. This Government show extraordinary reluctance to comment on this sensitive area. It is fair to say that it is a sensitive area. Deputy Barrett will be very interested in knowing the details of such industrial strategy in that western region and there are Deputies from other parts of the House who will also be interested.

In talking about providing employment, the Government can no longer rely on merely directing attention to specific areas without giving the whole country a chance to understand the overall strategy in regard to growth centres. Whatever about the political risks involved—and the Government have been involved in political risks over the last few weeks—this is a matter that calls out for clarification at an early date. I would suggest that the Minister has nothing to lose by being honest in this matter. He should without delay give us some idea where Shannon fits into the overall strategy on industrial growth policy.

The Limerick region is an area which has needed the injection of Shannon. We have had undertakings that Limerick city itself would be involved in the industrialisation drive in the surrounding regions, because as the Mayor, Deputy Coughlan, could tell you, Limerick is a place that has suffered a great deal from being deprived of industry and which has long been neglected by the Government in the matter of the provision of employment.

The main point, then, is that while hoping the development of the company continues, I would say that there is a great amount of State investment in this region. Apparently there is not a commensurate investment from private sources and this imbalance in investment in the area must be corrected. The State cannot indefinitely pay out these large sums of money and more must be provided from private sources. While there has been progress in jobs in the locality it has been at a heavy price in the amount of cash that is being put into the area by the State. Of course, there is one bright point in this in regard to our trading policy in the future and that is that most of the goods are exported from the area which means that the companies are competing with firms in other countries and therefore they are more efficient. It is important, however, that the State should attempt more and more to involve private investment in the locality both in the provision of houses, in which we are presently very heavily committed, and also of services and the industries already set up in the area must more and more take on this responsibility.

Mr. Barrett

Like the previous speakers I also welcome the expansion and scope of the Shannon Free Airport Development Company throughout the region for the setting up of further industries. The success of SFADCO speaks for itself in this regard and I am sure we can look forward to a bright industrial future in the region. With regard to a point made by Deputy O'Leary about industrial unrest I do not agree with him at all. There has been hardly any history of industrial unrest in the Shannon development area. The only firm involved in any such unrest was the EI company and that matter has been resolved for two or more years. At that time it was emphasised over and over again by the then Minister for Labour that companies coming to the area were always warned it was Government policy that they should encourage their employees to join trade unions. That was proved conclusively in statements at that time and therefore his contention is not at all borne out by the history of the development.

In regard to the housing area, the Minister might have a good look at the situation. This has been a very expanding community there for a number of years and, as one who has attended many meetings and listened to the complaints of the people in the area, I should like to impress on the Minister that a great feeling of frustration exists and that the people feel they are not allowed to be sufficiently involved in the running of their own town. I would not suggest that they should have a great say in the planning of industries, tourism, et cetera, which are other functions of the company, but they should have some representation on the board of the company when matters concerning their own town are being discussed. They feel this very much and I would ask the Minister to examine the matter to see if something could be done in this regard.

Some years ago they set up a community association which for a while was successful; they used to elect their own mayor every year and make representations to the company about various matters, but they found that this exercise was of such little consequence that less than 12 months ago they disbanded. They were frustrated in all their efforts to gain any of the concessions to which they felt they were entitled. They are not completely unappreciative of the work that has been done there, the building of houses and of the facilities made available to them, but they feel there is room for a great deal of improvement in this sphere. Perhaps the Minister might be able to remedy the situation.

The matter of investment by private building companies was mentioned by Deputy O'Leary. The reason for the lack of this investment is that the Shannon Free Airport Development Company acquired all the lands in the surrounding area over a period of years and private building firms have not been encouraged to build in the area. They have of course always let the building of houses by contract. No later than yesterday it appeared in the press that a Dublin firm, Sisk and Company, have been successful in their tender for a big shopping complex which is planned for this community centre. I also notice that a Dublin firm of auctioneers and agents were appointed for the letting of the shops and space in this centre. I have no objection to an auctioneering firm doing this, whether it is from Dublin or Cork or elsewhere, but the company should have the major say in who will be renting these premises. There were some lettings by tender in the past and one of the complaints of the people was that firms from far away were successful while there were enterprising people in the community who would have set up different types of businesses and given more facilities to the people living there rather than having them travel to Ennis, Limerick and far distant places for simple everyday needs.

We welcome the building of this shopping complex, which is a further advancement in the area, and we look forward to its success. We all admire the Shannon Free Airport Development Company and their achievements and we look forward to further achievements throughout Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary. If they do nearly as well there as they have done in the Shannon area there will be little or no unemployment or emigration in the region in the future.

Mr. Gallagher

I welcome this Bill and the extension of the activities at Shannon to the mid-western region, which includes the whole of Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary. Listening to the speeches made by speakers from Fine Gael and Labour one could not but reflect on their attitude to Shannon some years ago. The dream of Shannon becoming a major airport was laughed to scorn and indeed the first inter-Party Government did everything they could in 1948 and in subsequent years when Fianna Fáil were in power, to decry industrial development of any form, or any form of development, at Shannon Airport, or indeed the development of our airways across the Atlantic. However, what a delightful picture was painted this evening of the area—4,500 people gainfully employed, a volume of trade that earns in addition to goods coming in and going out, some £13 million a year.

Now the Department of Industry and Commerce is being charged with responsibility for developing the whole of this mid-west region. How lucky that region is to have this infrastructure of experience already there. They are lucky to have the management and skill so vital to development in any region and it is lucky that the Government over the years saw fit to preserve Shannon. There were people who had visions of rabbits running around the runways there. Shannon was abandoned at a time when it was regarded as futile for Irish people to think of an international airline. Apparently the idea was that we were just so many peasants fitted only to provide a work force for other countries. The initiative of the Government in 1957 and down through the years since has brought us now to this moment in time at which we have this magnificent industrial development at Shannon and, indeed, industrial development throughout the rest of the country as well.

Perhaps this is the right time at which to ask if we are progressing in the right direction. I venture to suggest to the Minister that in any development in the mid-west there should be more Irish participation and I would urge that he emphasises to the Industrial Development Authority that this should be the policy. There is in Ireland today the money and the ability. There is a need for more Irish participation. I should like to see the IDA asking for part of the equity instead of giving all the money by way of grant. I should like them to insist on more and more Irish participation. In that way we could provide greater security and continued development.

One must remember the trend of aircraft development in this connection. In planning a town of 6,000 population one has to think of the effect of, say, jumbo jets on such a community. The forecast is that Shannon will be the major airport in Europe in the future and perhaps our planners might consider limiting the number of people living in close proximity to such an airport. That might inhibit development there to some degree. Actually, where Shannon is concerned, the aircraft fly out to sea and the residents could be so housed as to minimise for them any nuisance from aircraft coming into or going out from Shannon.

I hope that the proposed development areas in the mid-west will encourage people to play their part in attracting industries to their particular neighbourhood. Shannon could become a centre of rapid industrial development. I know that potential industrialists like areas in which they can have their own pool of labour and in which they can provide the facilities to train own pool of labour. I should like this to be encouraged because it would prevent large concentrations of people in large population centres. I do not think anyone cares a great deal for densely populated areas. A wider dispersal of people is the goal to aim at. People can live much happier lives in smaller communities.

The social amenities at Shannon are excellent. Irish towns suffer from a certain barrenness from the point of view of relaxation amenities. Amenities are developing rapidly at Shannon. This is a very welcome development. A great deal has been achieved in a very short time at no colossal expense. It is not unusual today to invest £16,000 to provide one job. To see what is being achieved here with something like £6 million by way of grant and aid is very gratifying indeed. In addition to the permanent workers there are 2,360 casual workers coming into the building industry there and into other jobs. That is a tremendous boon to the region. Ultimately it will benefit the entire country.

I welcome the Bill and I wish it a speedy passage.

Mr. T. O'Donnell

I, too, welcome this Bill. It is a logical development arising out of the decision to re-align the functions of the Shannon Free Airport Development Company. Hitherto the Shannon Free Airport Development Company was under the control of the Department of Transport and Power for practically everything. It was decided at some stage to separate the functions into two clear categories and to give responsibility for industrial development in Shannon to the Department of Industry and Commerce. I agree wholeheartedly with that decision. Indeed I advocated it on several occasions in debates here. I was critical of the fact that there were too many agencies and too many organisations involved in industrial development. It is only right and proper that responsibility for industrial development should rest with the Minister for Industry and Commerce and his Department.

Apart from legalising the new arrangement regarding SFADCO this Bill also gives new responsibility to the company in that it now has a function in promoting industrial developments in Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary as well as at the airport. I note, according to the Minister's speech and various sections of the Bill, that SFADCO will only have responsibility for giving grants in respect of industries established at the airport. It will not have authority or power to make grants for new industries in Limerick, Clare or North Tipperary. That will still be the function of the Industrial Development Authority. It is provided in the Bill that SFADCO may make a recommendation in respect of grants to the Industrial Development Authority. I have no very strong views on this but I wonder whether it might be a better idea, and something which would really make the whole concept of regionalisation work well, if SFADCO had full responsibility for determining the amount of grants and other financial assistance available to new industries in all parts of this region.

I do not know the reason for confining SFADCO in the making of grants because the only power it has had, and will have, in regard to paying grants is in respect of industries that will be established at the airport. Perhaps the Minister, when replying, will throw some light on this. This applies particularly to sections 2 and 3 of the Bill where provision is made for payments of grants to SFADCO and, in regard to section 3, where it is provided that the company cannot make grants to industrial undertakings other than at Shannon Airport.

The main thing emerging from the Bill is that SFADCO has now been given responsibility for promoting industrial development in a much wider area which has come to be known as the mid-west. As the Minister rightly states, this is a very important region. I particularly welcome the fact that SFADCO will now have responsibility for industrial development in Limerick city and county and also in Clare and North Tipperary. This is something which I have personally advocated since I became a Member of the House in 1961 in every debate relating to Shannon Airport. I recall asking questions of the then Minister for Transport and Power, Deputy Childers, as to the possibility of assigning additional functions to SFADCO. I could never understand why that company should have been confined purely to the airport area. There were certain difficulties in the way, I understand, certain vested interests, and it was not possible to give the company these additional functions. While this Bill legalises these new functions of the company, that company has been exercising these functions for some time past, for over 12 months, and I am glad that already the results of the work of SFADCO are noticeable particularly in Newcastle West, to which the Minister referred, where new industrial development is taking place and where one or two new industries have been established and others are in the pipeline.

The Shannon Industrial Estate has been a tremendous advantage to the mid-western region. I am very conscious of this and I have not been ashamed to acknowledge it because so many people, in Limerick particularly, are employed at Shannon. It is reckoned that about 65 per cent or 66 per cent of those employed at Shannon reside in Limerick city or very near it. We in Limerick have a tremendous interest in the welfare of Shannon. While acknowledging the advantages of the airport and the industrial estate to Limerick it can also be said that the existence of the industrial estate at Shannon, with all its infrastructure of special concessions, special incentive grants and so on, has meant in recent years that any industrialist contemplating establishing an industry in the Limerick/Clare Tipperary district was naturally attracted to Shannon Airport rather than, say, to Limerick city. We are well aware of this and we know that industrialists who originally considered Limerick city as a location, for example, naturally crossed the Shannon because the grants were far greater there. There were advance factories waiting for occupation there and, from the point of view of financial assistance, buildings ready for occupation and the speed with which the industry could get into production, there was every advantage in going to Shannon Airport.

The result has been that the mid-western region has not fared so well as regards obtaining new industries. I agree entirely with what Deputy Gallagher said a while ago about Limerick city. It should be the focal point for new industrial development but we suffered in recent years from the disadvantage of not having serviced industrial sites nor advanced factory buildings and the fact that the grants applicable to industry in Limerick were less than those applying at Shannon Airport.

I sincerely hope that this Bill will have the effect of levelling out and doing away with this differential in grants and incentives. I particularly urge on the Minister the desirability of having the same rate of grant applied in all parts of the mid-western region. I have been requested to make and stress this point. Whether an industrialist decides to set up at Nenagh, Ennis or Limerick city or Shannon Airport the same grants and incentives should apply. In recent years we had experience of an industrialist being interested in a certain town in the region but because he was unable to get the same grants and incentives as he got at Shannon he did not go there or to Shannon; and in some cases industries were definitely lost to the region and, in certain instances, to the country altogether.

It is vitally essential that in the case of the new industrial estates in Limerick, Newcastle West—and I presume there will be advance factory buildings provided in Nenagh, and Ennis and various other towns— the same rate of grant and the same incentives will apply so that an industrialist will have a wide choice in the mid-western region. I do not want to be parochial about this, or to claim any special concession for my home town or for our city of Limerick. All we want is an opportunity to compete on fair terms with other areas.

The Minister referred to the fact that a large number of people employed at Shannon have to travel long distances to work. This, of course, is a fact. I should like clarification on this again. I understand it is the intention to develop Shannon as a town with a population of 6,000 people. I read a statement in the papers this morning from the Shannon Free Airport Development Company in relation to the development of a town and a community centre at Shannon. I am surprised that this type of statement should appear in the newspapers on the same day as the Minister responsible is coming in here to introduce a Bill. The Minister's statement contains little or no information in relation to the points raised by Deputy Barrett regarding the development of a new town with new services and housing et cetera. These are very important factors.

In view of the fact that the regionalisation of Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary is a pilot scheme in many ways—and, of course, it is in line with the Buchanan Report—it is vitally important that, if it is to be regarded as a guideline, as the Minister said, for regional development in other parts of the country, every effort should be made to ensure that it works out properly. The Minister said:

This decision was intended to satisfy within the area a need that exists for services to assist industrial development at regional level.

I could not agree more. There is very great need in this particular region. It is a region that was greatly neglected in the matter of industrial development. Time and time again people have asked how it is that Limerick city which has every natural advantage for industrial development—a port, a large labour pool, and so forth, and all the amenities of a modern city—has not been able to attract more industry in recent times. In my opinion the reason is that the incentives to industrialists to set up in Limerick bore no comparison to the incentives available at Shannon Airport.

There is another point on which I want further clarification. The Minister also stated:

The company will also have the task of increasing the effectiveness of the facilities being provided for development of small industry.

I am particularly interested in the development of small industry. I have the distinction of being the first Deputy who advocated the establishment of a special agency to promote small industries. I have a particular and personal interest in this because of the fact that the man who helped to set up the small industries section in the Minister's Department was our former county manager, Mr. T.M. O'Connor.

I want clarification on a very important point. When the Minister's predecessor was speaking on the Budget debate he announced that new regulations were about to be introduced regarding the qualification of small industries for grants. Up to now a small industry was regarded as one that gave employment to a maximum of 20 people. If I wished to establish an industry employing 15 people in my home town I would get in touch with the small industries section of the Department of Industry and Commerce or the IDA. From the Minister's statement it would appear that, as far as the development of small industries in the mid-west region is concerned, this function will now be exercised wholly or partly by the Shannon Free Airport Development Company. I am not too happy about this to be quite honest.

I have already commented on the fact that too many agencies are involved in industrial development. In the mid-west region no fewer than five different agencies will be involved in the development of industry. We have the Industrial Development Authority exercising an overall function. We have the Shannon Free Airport Development Company exercising complete authority in the matter of allocation and payment of grants at the airport and having now the added responsibility of promoting industry in the mid-west region. We also have the regional development organisation. What functions will that have? It is under the aegis of the Minister's Department. What precise function will the regional development organisation have? We also have the county development teams and the small industry division in the Minister's Department.

I raised this matter with the Minister's predecessor here in the House on several occasions. The most recent debate that took place here on industrial development was in relation to the restructuring of the Industrial Development Authority arising from the Arthur Little Report. I questioned the Minister's predecessor on this very point. I asked him to define clearly the responsibilities of the Shannon Free Airport Development Company, the Industrial Development Authority, the regional development organisation, the county development teams and the small industries division of the Department. The Minister's predecessor assured me that, when the time came to introduce this Bill extending the responsibilities of the Shannon Free Airport Development Company, the functions of these different organisations would be clearly defined. There is a passing reference to every one of them in the Minister's statement but no explanation is given.

I assisted in proposals for two or three small industries and one or two large industries and I had the experience of having to bring a prospective industrialist to the IDA, to the Shannon Free Airport Development Company, to the small industries division and to the regional development organisation. I apologise, Sir. I am not quite sure whether I have the right name. I am referring to the new organisation with headquarters in Limerick city. I think it has overall development responsibility. It has responsibility for developments other than purely industrial developments.

That is five separate agencies. I am not saying that one or other or any of these should be abolished. I said I have experience of dealing with every one of them. I have never been ashamed or afraid to pay tribute to any organisation or officials who have been of assistance. I have received the utmost assistance and co-operation from every one of these people. I could not but be rather amazed at the duplication and triplication of responsibilities and at the lack of clearly-defined functions. Foreign industrialists, particularly, do not like to be referred from one organisation to another.

What will be the future role of development teams and the regional development officers? I questioned the Minister's predecessor on this during the Budget debate a few weeks ago when dealing with the programme for the expansion of small industries. He said the functions would clearly be defined. He did not think there would be any clash of interests. However, it has been stated, and repeated on a number of occasions, that there is a clear clash now between the Department of Finance, who are responsible for the county development officers, and the Department of Industry and Commerce, who will be responsible for the regional development officers. I am completely in favour of SFADCO's having responsibility for the development of industry in this region. I firmly agree with what the Minister said about the utilisation of the expertise of SFADCO in the promotion and development of industry. It would indeed be a great asset to the mid-west.

The industrial division of SFADCO has been responsible for pioneering an entirely new concept of industrial development—the concept of industrial estates. I can pay tribute to the proven expertise of the people responsible for industrial promotion in the Shannon area. I am slightly afraid that this Bill and, in particular, the Minister's opening statement do not go far enough inasmuch as he is not clearly defining the functions of the different agencies. I am sure the Minister sees my point. SFADCO will have a certain responsibility for the development of small industries in this region. This is very complex. I should like to see SFADCO with overall responsibility so far as industry and grants are concerned at Shannon Airport, Limerick city, Nenagh and all the other relevant areas. I consider that the small industries division of the Minister's Department should be allowed to continue to promote small industry in all parts of the country. I think it has been a tremendous success. They now have the expertise and the knowledge of the special difficulties associated with the establishment of small industries.

The objectives of the original Bill establishing SFADCO in 1959 are different from the present objectives. The main aim then was to safeguard the airport and its employment. We are now aiming at using the airport as a major asset in regional development. I am reminded of the propaganda from the Minister's Department at every general election down the years in the Limerick region. Deputy Coughlan and myself, when we were first elected in 1961, remember Fianna Fáil speakers saying that the future of Limerick depended on the future of Shannon Airport. I always held that the opposite was the case and that the future of Shannon Airport depended on the development, industrially and touristwise, of the entire mid-western region. I am glad this region will now be developed. It has tremendous potential and natural advantages—an international airport, the port of Limerick, the great undeveloped natural asset of the Shannon Estuary.

The Minister said, referring to the employment on the Shannon Industrial Estate, that there are 30 manufacturing firms from six countries, including Ireland, and 17 servicing and warehousing concerns. In the light of our possible entry into EEC, it is very significant that, in addition to the establishment at Shannon of manufacturing enterprises, the possibilities of setting up large warehousing facilities was recognised and, up to now, 17 servicing and warehousing concerns have been established at the airport. Concern has been expressed by certain people, in that if and when we become members of the EEC this may affect the present incentive available at Shannon for industrial development.

Debate adjourned.