asked the Minister for Labour if, in respect of the private building sector, he will state the present availability of casual employment and the amount of overtime for employees.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Employment in Building.
12.
The regional and local offices of the National Manpower Service report that there is little demand at present for casual workers in the private sector of the building industry apart from in the Cork area where there is now an active demand for casual workers with experience in the industry.
This information requested about overtime working in the industry is not available to me.
Is the Minister aware that there is very little overtime in the building industry at the moment, at a time of the year when people usually use earnings from such overtime working for holidays? Would his answer to both Questions not indicate that there is a serious reduction in the output of housing?
As I have said, there is a reduction in the amount of casual employment. There is little demand at present for casual workers.
There is practically none.
Would the reply the Minister has given not indicate to him that there will be a rather serious problem arising in the private building sector before the end of this year? What steps does the Minister intend taking at this stage to ensure that there will be no unemployment in that very important sector of our industry?
As the Deputy may, perhaps, be aware, there is at present a larger number of workers in the building industry than at this time last year at any rate and over the last few years. But there are definitely signs, especially in the casual building grades, that there is not the same demand. That is the answer to the Deputy's question.
My question was: what steps the Minister intends taking at this stage to avoid any possible unemployment later on this year.
My responsibility lies in the area of training and I have carried out that responsibility to ensure that our training programme expands so that our economy can have the proper number of trained, skilled personnel necessary for the expansion of our industry. But employment creation in any particular industry is not the responsibility of my Ministry.
Is the Minister stating to the House that, as Minister for Labour, he will accept no responsibility for unemployment arising out of——
The Deputy is engaging in argument.
That is a different question again.