I move:
That Dáil Éireann takes note of the recently published survey of the Educational Sub-Committee of the Ballyfermot Community Association and requests the Government to initiate as a matter of urgency a special programme to provide employment and educational opportunities in Ballyfermot and in other areas of Dublin city where a similar need exists.
This motion was put down to stimulate discussion and to ensure that the valuable document produced by the Educational Sub-Committee of the Ballyfermot Community Association would get an airing in the House. This document deserves widespread discussion to ensure that the Government and the various institutions are made aware of the development problems not alone in Ballyfermot but in other Dublin areas. This motion was worded in a way that there would be no division. The Government amendment makes it a political matter. The amendment states:
To delete all words after "Association" and substitute the following:
"and notes the Government measures in the recent Budget, including employment premiums, the premium scheme for school-leavers and youth training and employment schemes, all of which will be of particular benefit in areas in Dublin such as those covered by the Association's survey."
It was not my intention to participate in this as a budget debate. I was concerned to stimulate discussion on this important document, but because of the terms of the Government amendment I must deal with the amendment in conjunction with the document. It is unfortunate that the Government did not allow unhindered discussion on this important document and sought to have another budget debate to force a division on this issue. It was not my wish to force a division because I am sure Members of other parties are concerned about the problems in Ballyfermot and other Dublin areas.
The survey was a comprehensive one and a great deal of time and energy went into the preparation of it. A special sub-committee of the Ballyfermot Community Association dealt effectively and efficiently with this matter in order to ensure that they had factual information. I should like to compliment the Chairman, Mr. Tommy Phelan, Pam O'Reilly and other members of the committee who participated in the preparation of the survey. Their report deals with the lack of assistance and understanding of the many problems that confront the teachers and parents in areas such as Ballyfermot. A pilot scheme was introduced for the purpose of preparing a suitable questionnaire and the survey was carried out by students from the Statistical and Sociological Department of TCD. The information was computerised. The interviewers came from outside the area and the system adopted was acceptable to McGrail who carried out a survey of Dublin city previously. The results were checked before this excellent report was produced.
I should like to quote from the McGrail report in an effort to indicate the type of problems the committee face in relation to this survey. That report states:
The educational imbalance of Dublin adults revealed in this report will, if not energetically corrected, lead to a critical state of injustice within the next two decades. Future planning to correct the present situation will require interdisciplinary and inter-departmental co-operation. Pre-school compensatory education alone, no matter how extensively it is organised, will not be adequate for the task of providing equality of educational opportunity for future generations living in Dublin. There is need, it would seem, for a more extensive and radical change in the social structure and attitudes which are contributing to the present inequality of educational opportunities in Dublin.
This sets the pattern and indicates that the course adopted and the findings of the subcommittee were in accord with the developing pattern as seen by the McGrail report.
We must view Ballyfermot as it exists, an area with a population of approximately 36,000 people who live in 5,000 dwellings. Approximately 15,000 of those are young people under the age of 14 years. When we take into consideration that the registered number of unemployed for Ballyfermot is 1,300 males and 380 females we can see the extent of the problem from the unemployment point of view. While education is related to this and to housing, it has been covered in detail in the report. An immense problem faces those who seek solutions to the difficulties in that area. Statistics are frequently supplied to Members of this House and those who seek them but they, by their nature, do not reflect the true position; they are averages. Governments operate on the basis of averages, not on the basis of conditions in a particular area. Geographical areas are seldom, if ever, taken into consideration. The same type of pattern is applied to education in Dublin city, Galway, the midlands and elsewhere. There is no consideration for the fact that the problems vary.
I should like to give some indication of the confusion in the mind of the Government in relation to the present statistical set up. Some time ago I inquired from the Taoiseach the number of persons unemployed in the Ballyfermot area and I was told that the information was not available. Apparently, the Central Statistics Office do not have the statistics necessary to ensure that communities anxious to examine in depth the problems in their area can have this type of information. Later I asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Welfare the number of people unemployed in that area and he was able to give me the information I required. He told me there were 1,300 males on the unemployment register at Werburgh Street and 380 females on the register at Victoria Street. The Taoiseach did not know this and apparently, the Government did not know. A co-ordination of effort is necessary within the Government irrespective of the Government in power. I do not blame one Government more than another because the whole set-up is wrong. We need such information if we are to have long-term planning.
We are all aware that the census has been postponed. It is possible that the Government do not wish to know what the problems are, that they do not want to be identified in case reports similar to the one I have referred to are compiled by people in other areas. It was wrong to postpone the census because we need authentic figures to prepare a long-term plan. Government statistics do not record the lack of social or employment opportunities. That weakness must be corrected. We must ensure that the developing pattern outlined in the McGrail report is corrected. In Ballyfermot there are people who want education and employment but they are being denied both through no fault of their own.
I have been quoting an in-depth report on the situation there but we are being forced to discuss it on a political basis. It indicates the position in regard to employment and how that is related to the educational process, and vice versa. The survey gives a clear indication of the problems facing teachers and the community association there. Of the number of people interviewed, 23 per cent were unemployed at a time when we are told by official Government figures that the national average is 12.1 per cent. Therefore, there is an abnormal situation in this respect in Ballyfermot. It is double the national rate, and this is an alarming situation.
The survey reveals that 24 per cent of the fathers of those interviewed were unemployed, a situation which affects Ballyfermot more than any other area. I am told that Members from the Government side are anxious to participate in this debate and I am sure they also have become alarmed by the figures in the report, which goes on to tell us that 20 per cent of the mothers of those interviewed were working through necessity. That, in turn, must be reflected in the households, where children are deprived severely. It is an alarming siuation that 23 per cent of those interviewed are unemployed and that 24 per cent of their fathers are unemployed. Is it not a terrible situation where you have entire families unemployed as well as parents?
We have a Government amendment to this motion and we must ask, in the light of it, about the remedial efforts being made by the Government. The amendment is only a whitewashing effort. We must have a look at the job opportunities for Ballyfermot people and for other areas and at the Government's contribution in this year's budget. Through the premium employment scheme, £4.1 million is being made available through which the Government say they hope to give jobs to 11,000 adults and 5,000 school leavers, but this must be juxtaposed with the situation in the budget where job opportunities are being denied because of cutbacks in the capital programme. A motivating force in economic life here is the house construction programme. Here we find that in the 1976 budget £119 million was provided for this industry, but in 1977 there is a cutback to £101 million, a reduction of £18 million. This must be taken in conjunction with the galloping inflation rate which cuts back the value of the programme by £40 million. Most of the jobs provided in the building industry are of an unskilled nature and in Ballyfermot many of those interviewed in the survery I have mentioned required unskilled work because of educational deprivation.
There is no doubt that employment will be reduced as a result of the cutbacks in the construction sector on which so many Dublin people rely for employment. This can only cause further hardship. The employment premium scheme does not apply to the building industry. I challenge the Minister to say that an effort is made to offset this cutback of £40 million. The building industry is the second largest in the country, the driving force in the fields of employment and the economy generally. It employs 54,000 people directly and 83,000 indirectly. At the moment 24,000 people are out of jobs in that industry. I mentioned this only because of the Government's amendment.
I will return to the general unemployment situation. In the report I have referred to, it is stated that 85 per cent of the mothers employed were in unskilled work. This is as a result of educational problems down through the years. The educational programme, particularly at primary level, was designed to treat all children equally but that cannot apply in the extreme overcrowded conditions in Ballyfermot where there is hardship and sickness. Because of lack of employment opportunities for parents the children suffer. Many people from that area have reached great heights academically and in industrial employment. They are only too willing to avail of any opportunities that may arise but these are very few.
I call on the Government now to set up as a matter of urgency an independent committee to examine the contents of this survey, with special attention to education, employment and housing, and to make the necessary financial assistance available to meet the needs of the community and solve the problem of distress in the area, in conjunction with the Ballyfermot Association and with the other groups operating in the area, the trade unions, the employers, the school management committee, the school managers, the teachers, the clergy and all the other groups anxious and willing to assist.
Co-ordination of effort was never more desired and stimulation of Government thought in relation to forgotten areas was never more important. I would ask the Parliamentary Secretary to convey to the Government the necessity to identify and dig deeper into the evolving problems here and elsewhere. When we look at Dublin city, taking it as a whole and going outside the perimeter of Ballyfermot, we find a total of 33,000 unemployed. As I said earlier, figures obtainable from one source were not obtainable from another source. I shall not deal in depth with the unemployment figures. While they are important, there are other even more important aspects covered in the report. These will be dealt with in a more comprehensive way by other contributors to this debate.
I sought information from Manpower and the information I received in relation to personnel registered there was very far from the reality of the situation in the particular area. This is an area in which job opportunities are not available. The survey indicates that over 65 per cent of those interviewed worked outside the Ballyfermot area. The establishment of industry there and in contiguous areas is absolutely essential in order to relieve the pressures and solve the problems developing in the area. The planners must be convicted on the score of the type of development laid out. Correct attitudes were not adopted and people were left on their own to meet the demands that arise in such areas.
The survey indicates that job location is important and so are job opportunities. I took this matter up recently with the Minister for Industry and Commerce. I wanted to find out the position with regard to industrial development in the area and I was told by the Minister that the IDA have informed him that, while a number of industrialists had been brought to visit the area in recent months, there was no firm proposal in the pipeline to establish any new project. It will be a long time then before the people in that area will have job opportunities in the area. This must be highlighted and brought to the attention of those planning the location of industrial estates. In the development of all housing estates job opportunities must be available and the Department of Industry and Commerce must pay particular attention to that aspect. Commuting to the other side of the city is a costly process. Those who would be willing to commute are not prepared to see their wages eroded by ever-increasing transport charges. Job location must go hand in hand with job opportunity in every area.
The relationship between education and employment is clearly outlined in the survey. The percentages are given and so is the type of employment people enter as a result of leaving certificate and intermediate certificate and the number who had the opportunity of going forward to third-level education in university. It is vitally important to ensure that the young people in the area will have equal opportunities. The whole system is geared against females. Women and young girls are victimised by the system. Corrective action must be taken. The statistics in the group certificate are interesting—66 per cent of males and 2.8 per cent of females. There is no proper vocational school for females. Where they are streamed into the vocational school there are immense problems. I was in a college in Ballyfermot last Saturday and it was indicated to me that people in the vocational school lose a class before and after because they have to commute from a considerable distance. That is certainly not in the student's interests. The system where university grants are concerned is farcical. Unless one has the necessary finances one is in a very difficult position indeed.
