Vol. 285 No. 4
asked the Minister for Local Government if, in view of the fact that County Roscommon received the lowest industrial grants from the State during the period April-December, 1974, he will increase local improvement scheme grants and make special amenity grants available.
8.
asked the Minister for Local Government if he has any plans for the initiation of relief schemes and amenity schemes with a view to halting the growing unemployment numbers; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 8 together.
Because of the necessity to make provision for priority services such as housing and sanitary services and the phasing out of the cost to ratepayers of the health and housing subsidies it is not possible to increase the grants for local improvement schemes, to make any new grant allocations under the amenity grant scheme or to provide funds to local authorities for relief schemes.
Is the Minister not showing a complete lack of interest in providing employment opportunities for our people? Is he not aware that the present unemployment figure is 104,500 and that this is increasing daily? In these circumstances would he not reconsider his decision and make available extra money to local authorities by way of amenity grants so that they may provide extra employment in every county? This course of action was taken during the term of office of the Minister's predecessor.
If, in my capacity as Minister for Local Government, I were giving to local authorities the miserly sums made available to them by my predecessor I might consider finding extra money but in view of what this Government have done there is no way in which what Deputy Fitzgerald suggests can be done.
Having regard to the claims made by the Minister on behalf of the Government, is he aware that the Government are responsible for creating a situation which has led to the unemployment of 34,500 people?
The Deputy is getting away from the subject matter of the question.
Has the Minister any interest in the question of the re-employment of some of those 34,500 people?
I am aware that while there were more than 70,000 people unemployed annually during the Fianna Fáil Administration, there was also an annual exit from the country of more than 30,000.
Order. I am calling the next question.
May we take it, then, that the Minister is satisfied with the present situation? He is a disgrace and should resign.
Dr. Gibbons rose.
Question No. 9.
