Vol. 369 No. 6
asked the Minister for Tourism, Fisheries and Forestry if further to the reply to Parliamentary Question No. 105 of 29 October 1986 he will indicate the forestry areas and the number of temporary workers involved in the present lay-offs; and if there are any steps open to him, particularly in respect of the provision of extra funds, to ensure that these people remain in employment.
79.
asked the Minister for Tourism, Fisheries and Forestry whether any employees have been let go in the Kilkenny area; and the steps he has taken to ensure that these people remain in employment.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 79 together.
The Deputies can be assured that I will take all steps open to me to safeguard the employment of forest workers. I think, however, that the Deputies may be misinterpreting recent action terminating the employment of temporary workers as a measure affecting permanent workers. This is not the case. My Department have always employed a number of temporary workers either on a seasonal or short fixed term basis to augment the permanent workforce and to meet peak demands in forest operations. The number employed each year varies between 200 and 300 employees.
The situation referred to by the Deputies concerns the current year's temporary employees. These workers were employed for seasonal work or for a specific period in nurseries and forests throughout the country with due regard to the financial allocation provided for such work in this year's Vote for forestry. In fact, I understand that a number of the workers involved were retained in employment for longer periods than was envisaged when they were originally recruited.
The number of workers whose employment is being terminated is 197 and these are spread throughout 114 forests in all areas of the country.
If the Minister is interested in safeguarding the jobs of forestry workers would he not ensure that those 197 be retained, in view of the fact that it is widely known there is work available for them and that while they are not working they draw social welfare and PRSI? In order to overcome those difficulties and make additional work available for seasonal or full-time workers, have the Minister's Department considered felling, trimming and selling trees on the roadside rather than selling them standing in forests, making work available for people outside the country rather than those within it?
I do not think the second option encompassed in the question is being considered at present. Possibly it is something we could investigate. I thought I had explained clearly in the course of my reply that the situation this year is no different from that which has obtained over a number of years. There are a number of temporary people employed. They are not employed in the same areas each year but rather where, as anticipated, work will be available. We are now dismissing people who had been employed on a temporary basis. That happened last year and the year before. I presume that temporary people will be employed again in 1987. As far as the Department are concerned, they will be temporary employees only, no more, no less. They start and finish at various times of the year. Some are employed for the planting season between the months of February and June, the lining out programme in nurseries between the months of June and September and other seasonal activities, or for specific periods of short-term employment or mainly for harvesting. That type of employment always has been a feature of forestry and, as far as I can foresee, will always be a feature of it.
In view of the unemployment obtaining will the Minister not retain those people in the national interest to develop the roadways in our forestries, taking out all of the fine timber that is rotting away awaiting harvesting, rather than spending vast amounts of money trotting around the world endeavouring to create jobs in industry? Is he aware that we are allowing a native industry to rot? I have seen the finest of timber rotting in south Tipperary because there is not the requisite manpower to develop roads in order to have that timber taken out, while we import timber because sufficient is not available. It is a national scandal.
I do not accept what the Deputy says. All I can do is repeat what I have said, that these people were employed on a temporary basis. They knew it was on a temporary basis and knew that before the end of the year their employment would be terminated. It is the system that has been in operation over a number of years. Perhaps we could examine it with a view to employing additional people at some future date on a permanent, full-time basis. The people employed on a temporary basis were aware of that fact.
Will the Minister consider having the people engaged under the social employment scheme employed in our forests? I believe that suggestion has been refused to date.
That is something that may be considered. I shall contact officials of the Forestry and Wildlife Service to ascertain if that is possible
