asked the Minister for Labour if his Department have broken down the present figure of approximately 100,000 unemployed persons into the categories of age group, sex, marital status, skilled workers and unskilled workers with a view to the retraining and the reemployment of these persons at the first possible opportunity.
Ceisteanna-Questions. Oral Answers. - Employment Situation.
26.
Statistics of the characteristics of persons on the live register are compiled on a regular basis by the Central Statistics Office. The Deputy will find a list of such publications in Appendix B of the publication The Trend of Employment and Unemployment which is published annually by the Stationery Office.
My Department, through the manpower information section of the National Manpower Service, monitor this information and, together with certain other information made available to them by other Government agencies, a continuous watch is being kept on development in the trends of employment and unemployment. AnCO, the Industrial Training Authority, works closely with this section. Plans for retraining and reemployment are based on the needs of the workers concerned as shown by these studies.
Because of the expense of compiling information and the necessary time lag involved in producing detailed breakdowns, the information referred to by the Deputy is not yet available. I am however confident that every effort is being made by AnCO to retrain the maximum number of unemployed workers. I would refer the Deputy to the financial statement of the Minister for Finance in which is announced an increase of £3 million in the grant to AnCO making a total provision of £5 million which, after matching grants from the European Social Fund, will mean that AnCO will have a total of £9 million for current expenditure in 1975. This provision will enable an extra 2,000 adults to be brought into training in 1975 and will bring the total number of adults in such training to 5,000. In addition about 1,000 apprentices will be trained during the year. This increase in our training capacity, which is the largest ever increase in this area, has been warmly welcomed by both sides of industry.
Can the Minister say if there will be adequate employment opportunities for the 5,000 adults who will be trained in the current year? Would he have any concern about there not being enough opportunities available at the end of their training period?
The Deputy will be pleased to know the placement record is quite good. Despite the high unemployment there is a grave shortage of skilled workers throughout the country and I so stated when I opened the Dundalk Training Centre last year. I indicated that, depending on the increase in unemployment, the task of the Government would be to increase the training facilities available and I propose to carry out that course.
27.
asked the Minister for Labour if, in view of the serious unemployment situation, he will seek the expansion of activities in afforestation, boat building, road making and improvement and the speeding up of telephone installations to absorb some of the unemployed, even on a temporary basis.
The Government are providing for the current year's public capital programme the highest amount ever for investment in the activities mentioned by the Deputy. This record level of public expenditure is designed to ensure that employment in these areas is expanded to the highest level practicable within available resources.
May I take it there will be an increase in all Government Departments in the current year?
No. I have indicated that, under the public investment programme, there has been a very large increase and that represents the Government's investment in the area of expanding and maintaining employment at the highest level possible.
Is the Minister now saying there will be no increase in jobs in Government services this year?
We have made the highest investment ever in the area of job creation. It is quite clear we are facing, and the Government make no secret of the fact, external economic difficulties because of the recession in some of our major markets and the Government's response has been to increase the capital investment programme.
Am I to take it extra jobs will be created in the Government services this year?
That is the intention behind the increase, I understand.
Then we can expect a sizeable number of jobs?
We can expect certainly the fall-out from the increased investment to maintain more jobs than would have been possible had the investment not been made. With regard to the problem of unemployment, a great deal of this unemployment is outside our control because it is caused by the recession in external markets.
In those circumstances is a fall-off in employment envisaged?
Looking at the position of our major markets, on which so much of our employment depends, and looking at the situation in Britain in particular, one could not feel optimistic about the remainder of this year.
What I am asking the Minister to do is to ask his colleagues to re-employ some of the people at present unemployed, to re-employ them in productive work in areas in which that can be organised.
The details are there in the capital investment programme. There is increased expenditure. In answer to an earlier question, I explained that in the area of training capacity the greatest investment ever in the history of the State has been made in training skilled manpower because, side by side with this unemployment situation, and much of the unemployment is caused by external factors outside our control, there is still a shortage of skilled workers.
Surely it is to be expected——
The Deputy has had a good innings.
Surely it is to be expected at present that the huge number of unemployed should be able to look forward hopefully to work from Government services over and above normal times? I would appeal to the Minister to further examine that situation.
The appeal has been answered. I would refer the Deputy again to the details of the capital investment programme. But over and above the investment of the Government there are problems associated with present unemployment outside the control of any native Government. We are facing the same unemployment phenomenon as is faced by every one of our neighbours in Europe at the present time. Some are facing a more catastrophic situation than we are.
If the situation is as the Minister describes it——
We must pass on to the next question.
——it is incumbent on him to ensure that extra people are taken from the unemployment register into Government services.
I have already explained that in the area under my control the largest expansion of our training capacity ever has taken place.
I am not asking about that. I am referring to other Departments.
Question No. 28.
Will the Minister——
The Deputy will agree that the Chair has been very liberal in the number of questions he has permitted.
I want to ask just one. In view of the Minister's references to the vast capital investment in the economy, will he get his Department and the Government to direct some of this towards the fishing industry where immediate employment is available if we had the type of development required?
There has been an increase I understand in investment in that industry also.
Very little. It only covers ordinary costs.
28.
asked the Minister for Labour the total number of job applications handled by the National Manpower Service in each of the years 1972, 1973 and 1974; the number of persons successfully placed in employment in each of those years; and the further plans he has for the expansion of the service with a view to placing people in employment in other EEC countries.
The figures for the three years mentioned by the Deputy are as follows:
|
1972 |
1973 |
1974 |
|
|
Applications for jobs |
21,617 |
30,709 |
35,825 |
|
Persons placed |
8,568 |
13,728 |
16,016 |
During the past two years I have doubled the field staff of the manpower service and I plan to expand it further, by one third, in the current year. I hope also to increase the number of manpower offices throughout the country to 25 during 1975 and so bring the facilities of the service to more people in the regions. The figures I have quoted show that an increasing number of job seekers and employers alike are using the service and suggest that there is satisfaction with the work it is doing. The placing of people in jobs is more important than ever in the present difficult employment situation. I have, therefore, directed the service to intensify its efforts to seek out all possible vacancies and I take this opportunity of appealing to employers to give their full co-operation by notifying any vacancies they may have to the service.
With regard to the last part of the Deputy's question I would point out that it is the Government's policy to create employment at home and remove the need for involuntary emigration. In the context of our membership of the EEC, however, the manpower service is obliged to co-operate with the other EEC manpower authorities in facilitating persons wishing to work in other member states in accordance with the regulations governing the free movement of workers. These regulations provide that vacancies which were notified to the national manpower authorities and remain unfilled after 18 days must be circulated to the manpower authorities of the other member states so that nationals of those countries may have an opportunity of applying for them. The service is also obliged to assist, on request, employers from other EEC countries who wish to recruit Irish workers. In addition it provides advice and information on living and working conditions in other EEC countries to people who request it.
However only a small number of Irish people have approached the manpower service with a view to migrating to other EEC countries and I have no plans therefore to expand this side of the service.
I also welcome the increased figures for those years and agree with the Minister's call to employers to use the National Manpower Service.