asked the Minister for Labour if he will outline his views on the National Social Research Council Report on a manpower authority; and if he feels amendments to the present structure should be along the lines of the published report.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - NESC Report on Manpower Policy.
28.
I welcome the report on "Manpower Policy in Ireland" published by the National Economic and Social Council. The report contains the most comprehensive and detailed analysis of existing policy undertaken to date and is a major contribution to the general discussion at present taking place on this subject.
The proposals and recommendations of the report are being examined in the context of the White Paper on Manpower Policy which will form the Government's response to the report. The White Paper is at present being considered by the Government and it would not be appropriate for me to comment further on any specific aspect of the NESC report at this stage.
The Deputy will be aware that there are conflicting views in the report on the question of the establishment of a single manpower agency in as much as the consultants recommended such an approach whereas the council of NESC considered that the adoption of such a radical restructuring proposal was not the most appropriate strategy.
I am sure the Minister will forgive me for being totally cynical as to the emergence of any White Paper on manpower policy. Paragraphs of the reply he has given were probably drafted prior to his arrival in the Department as he has made the same remarks in the House on several occasions.
Has the Deputy a question?
I have been waiting for two years for this White Paper which I was told would amount to only two or three pages.
No doubt the Deputy will find other occasions for making a speech about that.
The whole matter is very frustrating. The last White Paper in this area was published in 1985. It is difficult to persuade the Minister to talk about this matter at all and I have an opportunity every six weeks only to try to pressure him into taking some action. Will the Minister confirm that the White Paper will be published? In May last, without a division, the House agreed on the formation of a manpower authority. As almost 21 years have elapsed since we had the last White Paper on manpower — that was introduced by the late Mr. Seán Lemass — the Minister may well go down in history in terms of bringing in the next one.
The Minister tells us now that the NESC report is being taken into account in the context of the White Paper. On a previous occasion he told us that the White Paper would be drafted following the Dáil debate. Will it be the case that, if some other group publish another document in this area, we will have to await a study of that before legislation is introduced? Is the Minister serious in regard to rectifying the total mess that is the manpower service? Is he serious about tackling the abuses, the ambiguities and the anomalies in the whole system? The area is complicated but there has been a considerable amount of time in which the Minister could have brought forward the White Paper.
That is fair comment.
The Minister should answer the question.
However it was unfair, though perhaps understandable, that the Deputy should express some difficulty in the matter of having an opportunity to talk with me on this matter.
I was referring to the difficulty in eliciting information from the Minister in the House.
The Deputy will recall that we had a very constructive debate on this matter in the House when the Government accepted the motion put forward by the Opposition. It was agreed then that it would be preferable to have a consensus in relation to an analysis agreed on by all sides. We were both aware then that the NESC were completing their study. They had hoped to publish their report in October last but for a variety of reasons, some of which we can all understand, there has been a delay in that regard. I can only repeat that it is my clear intention to produce a White Paper. I regret that its production has been delayed longer than I would have hoped, but the document will have the benefit of brevity, a feature which the Deputy urged on us. That brevity will be made all the more possible because of the publication, in advance of the White Paper, of the NESC report.