asked the Taoiseach the total exports and imports for the year ended 31st January, 1970, or for the latest available date; the trade deficit for the same period; and what action the Government intends taking to improve the situation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Trade Situation.
6.
Provisional figures for the year ended the 31st December 1971, indicate that merchandise imports totalled £754.6 million, merchandise exports totalled £536.4 million and the trade deficit was £218.2 million. This represented an increase of £8.3 million in the trade deficit during the year 1971, over the previous year. When account is taken of exceptional purchases of ships and aircraf in both years, there was an improvement of approximately £6 million in the trade deficit as compared with 1970. As well as this improvement, the trade deficit has fallen in each of the past seven months.
Would the Taoiseach not agree that the ever-increasing trade balance should be causing greater concern, that the Government's inflationary policy is pricing our exports out of the British and other markets and that our exports are becoming less competitive leading to the closing of factories and the fact that we have 76,000 unemployed at present? What does the Taoiseach intend to do about this adverse trend which is causing so much hardship to so many people?
The Deputy did not listen to my reply. I said that the trade deficit was decreasing, not increasing.
The Taoiseach informed me on 11th May that Government budgetary policy et cetera would make our exports more competitive and that this would have an advantageous effect on employment. Unemployment is now 25,000 higher than it was then. What answer has the Taoiseach to that?
I shall be dealing with that shortly.