I dealt comprehensively with the Government amendment last night. I said I deplored the Government's statement which announced that their only response to the unemployment figures was that they were disturbing. Such a word is very mild, to say the least. It is a very poor message to send from here to the 67,000 young people without jobs, without hope or direction for the future. There is no Government plan or strategy with which they can identify. Of course the same problem affects their parents. The Government's attitude to the young unemployed, after 14 months in office, is immoral. The best we, the elected representatives, can say to them is that the unemployment figures are disturbing. Of course the Government also have told us that the figures are not as bad as they might appear.
This sort of distorted type of information being handed out to our young people will frustrate them even more and drive them into the arms of personae non grata as far as the democratic system is concerned, and we will only have ourselves to blame for that. This sort of propaganda emanating from this Government in distorting the facts, trying to convince the people that there is little or no borrowing taking place, is flying in the face of truth because in 1983 the national debt increased by £2,900 million. Foreign borrowing increased by £100 million last year. It is time our people got a fair presentation of the facts.
It is bordering on the unmentionable to think that the Government would state in their amendment that unemployment is only half what it was under Fianna Fáil. Under Fianna Fáil Government, from March to November unemployment rose by 22,000 — plain figures, no distortion. Under the Coalition, under their Programme for Government, we were promised firm decisive action on the 170,000 then unemployed. We know all about the decisive action. No action has been taken, no policy and no strategy were produced and we end up with 45,000 more people unemployed. The figures are there and cannot be disputed.
What we should be concerned about is how to tackle the problem. In Opposition we have a duty to try to extract from the Government where they are going and how they think they will get there. I have always been constructive here and always will be in efforts to solve the biggest social evil affecting our people. For heaven's sake, will the Government produce the White Paper on Industry so that we can come to grips with it? If I have constructive suggestions to offer I will do so. I complimented the Government when they took steps in regard to venture capital for industry. I will do the same when the White Paper comes out, but I will criticise what should be criticised.
Where should we be going? The only way forward for this economy is by way of export net growth and import substitution. They are the real long-term answers. However, I want an interim strategy in an effort to encourage young people who have been left without hope and who are suffering from extreme frustration. I want to see them taking advantage of opportunities that may exist or will exist in the future. There are areas of opportunity here, particularly in the import substitution field. It has not been significantly tackled, though I, as Minister, made an attempt.
A 10 per cent cut in imports would create 16,000 new jobs. That is an objective worth going after by any Government. There are agencies that can be brought in to help to identify those opportunities. Already the information is on file in computers in the Irish Goods Council, in the IDA and in the IIRS. All this information should be co-ordinated and syphoned down to our young people to give them encouragement to start small businesses. There is community awareness of our real problems and the people want to take part. It can be done in small areas but a lot of bureaucracy stands in the way of our young people and frustrates them even more.
I am sure the Minister realises that the Government have an enterprise scheme through which they pay people who are unemployed to get involved in something. In Longford — I am sure it is symptomatic of other areas in the country — three girls started an enterprise on their own. They looked for help but because one of them was not entitled to unemployment benefit they cannot get any assistance from the scheme. Was that girl supposed to go out, spend some time on the unemployed list and get on the dole queue, which she never wanted to do? Her two friends are there and the whole enterprise will fail because of bureaucratic regulations. We will have to break down those regulations in relation to young people. They are impatient. They have no time for this sort of thing, they want to get going, they want to do something.
When the Minister of State was winding up he called for the fostering of entrepreneurial spirit. He can start off in one place, in the schools. When school tours come up here and go to the Dáil, the National Museum and elsewhere, a positive step forward would be to establish a permanent exhibition in Dublin, put together by the Irish Goods Council, the IIRS and the IDA, to show the products being imported here. Those agencies should become involved. We have two million square feet of idle IDA factory space but until we get rid of bureaucracy we will not be able to take the necessary step forward. That should be done straightaway.
When I was Minister I initiated such a scheme in regard to import substitution. I should like to see that fostered and developed. I am not talking party politics because the problem is too great for that. Two weeks ago I drew the attention of the House and the Taoiseach to an arrangement I had made with a German computer firm to train and employ 300 people in a real life work environment scheme in Bray. That got bogged down in bureaucracy and I am asking the Minister for Labour to get rid of the bureaucracy. The German firm were prepared to put in 50 per cent of the cost with the IDA contributing the balance, but because the Department of Education want a bit of it, because the manpower section want a bit and AnCO want a bit, the thing is bogged down and 300 young people are being deprived of training and employment.
There is a basic immediate need to get out a policy on the development of our natural resources. We can no longer depend on foreign industrialists. Industrialists already here are getting cheesed off by the approach of the Irish Government. They are beginning slowly but surely to pull out. Irish companies are now investing in America for the very same reason — there is no return on their risk investment here. We must get our act together properly in that respect. The large industrialist can look after himself — he has the banks to help him. The medium industrialist has the IDA to look after him. But the small fellow, the real job creator here, the man who employs four or five people, has nobody to turn to. It is time that the latent talent in all our agencies was brought to bear on this. The Irish Goods Council should be helping with home marketing. Despite massive investment by the IDA in the last ten years, only 25 per cent of the products and services required by large investment companies that have come in here are being supplied from within the country.
There are opportunities there to be taken up. We need to identify them and get the people back to work. I do not want to hear any more distortion of the facts. We all know the problem. It is about time we had some kind of strategy. There are many opportunities to be availed of in the softwear industry. The world market is under 35 per cent undersupplied at present and we spend money educating young people to become technicians, graduates and so on who are capable of turning out the products required but we do not give them any opportunity to do so. Let us use the assets we have invested in whether it is in education, IDA space or whatever. We must put the whole act together and get the people back to work. It is time that we turned over a new leaf and got on the right road.
