Deputy Seán Byrne has been given permission to raise on the Adjournment the serious issue of the large scale lay-off of forestry workers in the south. The Deputy has seven minutes and the Minister four.
Adjournment Debate. - Forestry Workers Lay-off.
I shall be as brief as possible, sharing my time with my two colleagues in south Tipperary, Deputies McCarthy and Griffin.
My reason for raising this matter on the Adjournment was in an endeavour to safeguard the jobs of approximately 500 people and their families who are about to lose or have lost their jobs in forestry, particularly in the south. Bearing in mind the 250,000 people already unemployed and the other 100,000 who have emigrated over the past four years it is a national scandal that there is timber rotting in our State forests, with no roads or manpower available with which to harvest it. It must be pointed out also that our sawmills are operating at 50 per cent of their capacity while we import millions of pounds worth of timber. There is no commitment on the part of this Government to safeguarding the permanent jobs that can be created in connection with agriculture, afforestation and other areas.
The Government are letting down our young people. It would be much more beneficial to spend taxpayers' money on the harvesting of our national assets rather than trotting round the world endeavouring to attract mickey mouse industries from foreign lands. When Fianna Fáil were in power in 1982 they allocated £20 million for the development of afforestation but the present Government cut that very severely. They gave only £10 million this year. That is an indication of their lack of commitment as far as afforestation is concerned. It was estimated that the Department would receive £15 million for 1985. Where is all the money going? Why is it not being spent to secure jobs for the people who have a right to live in this country? We should be exporting our timber, not exporting our people. Much of the timber in my constituency is rotting and the same applies all over the country.
(Interruptions.)
I would like Deputies to know the Dáil is still in session and I ask them to behave accordingly.
It is sad to think there is timber rotting in our forests with no manpower and the roads not developed in my constituency to take out the timber. I am sure the same applies in other constituencies also. Some 86 per cent of our forests are State-owned. It is like a farmer with a field of wheat who has not the courage to cut it. It is very bad economics and a lack of commitment to his business. We import about £400 million to £500 million worth of wood products each year but, at the same time, we are letting off our men. This Government have lost their belief in this nation and in its people. Experts estimate that 80 per cent of this foreign imported timber could be replaced by our own native timber. Instead of letting people go, we should be taking on more people. The EC is only 50 per cent self-sufficient in timber and we should be exporting our timber there. We could have a market on our doorstep in the UK. They import £4.5 billion worth of timber each year while we are letting our timber rot.
I heard the Minister earlier in the day waffling about customary seasonal jobs. Our people should be employed from Christmas to Christmas. They should not be let go when the leaves fall off the trees. It is a disgrace the Minister has not a commitment to keep on those people. We have the soil, the climate, the workforce and the markets but not the commitment to continue harvesting. I am sure the Minister must feel guilty about this too as the same is happening in his constituency.
The Deputy has three and a half minutes.
I appeal to the Minister to save the jobs in the national interest and to keep our people at home. I will share the rest of my time with my two colleagues, Deputy McCarthy and Deputy Griffin.
I should like to thank my colleague, Deputy Byrne for allowing me to say a few brief words on this very important subject. It impinges on the basics of what is vital, important and dear to us, that is, that we should support basic indigenous industries such as afforestation. There is something peculiar, weird and queer about this Government. They seen to have a sort of antagonism towards anything that is natural and towards the promotion of Irish life. Anything Irish and anything we can develop in relation to our own indigenous projects seems to be rejected. They seem to be much more concerned about helping out the coffee shops of their pals than they are with more important things.
In relation to afforestation, the programme is totally in decline. The Department and the Government have not maintained their planting programmes. Land reserve is critically low due to the fact that land for planting was not acquired to any extent over the past three years. In 1982 when Fianna Fáil were in Government they acquired over 8,000 hectares and there was over 20,000 acres for planting. This year the Government acquired only 4,000 hectares.
The Deputy has one-and-a-half minutes left.
The result is that that land is not available for afforestation. We recognise there are imports of timber and we cannot and will not accept that. Workers have been laid off in an area where we could have done a lot more to help.
I should like to thank Deputy Byrne for allowing me to speak very briefly on this. I would like to disassociate myself from some of the colourful and flamboyant expressions of Deputies Byrne and McCarthy. I would rather approach this matter in a more mundane fashion and from an economic point of view. I put it to the Minister that rather than have some of these employees draw unemployment benefit — and the cost of the unemployment benefit comes from the national Exchequer — it would be far more effective to have them working and the nation getting some return for their work. I should like the Minister to concentrate on that aspect of it in his very brief reply.
I join with my colleagues in appealing to the Minister, even at this late hour, to avert the lay-offs. However few the numbers each job is very precious. It is a livelihood that is at stake. Forestry will give this nation a rich reward in returns. It is a scandal and a disgrace that there should be lay-offs in this area.
If inflation was running as fast as Deputy McCarthy's mind it would be very heavy indeed. We are talking about the lay-off of 197 people who were employed on a temporary basis.
The Minister stopped thinking 20 years ago.
There should be no interruptions.
Deputy Byrne indicated that it would be something in the region of 500 people. The lay-offs are scattered over 114 forests throughout the country. Those people were taken on on a temporary basis and they knew that when they were taken on. I say to the Deputies who are listening to me and who may try to stop me from expressing an opinion, when the Vote on forestry came before the Members of this House those Deputies were the people who said there was enough money in the Vote for forestry.
Deputies
That is not true.
If those Deputies wanted more money allocated for forestry it is a wonder that they did not oppose the Vote that was put forward. They are trying to misrepresent the position for their cheap political purposes. To be fair, Deputy Treacy and Deputy Griffin expressed a very clear point of view but I cannot for one moment go along with the points expressed by Deputy McCarthy and Deputy Byrne. On the one hand, Deputy Byrne spoke about wheat. What has that got to do with forestry or does he know the difference?
(Interruptions.)
The Minister has been brought in to deal with this matter. He should be listened to.
In another instance Deputy Byrne spoke about foreign imports of timber. I agree that there are imports of timber. He continued on to say that the EC is only 50 per cent sufficient in what they need by way of timber. We are all aware of these facts. Earlier today Deputy McEllistrim complained about the export of timber products to an EC country. What do the Deputies want? Are they ever satisfied? As I already said, there were 197 people laid off for the very simple reason that they were taken on on a temporary basis. They knew that from day one. The position is the same as it has been for many years.
This is a temporary Government.
The Dáil adjourned at 9 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 6 November 1986.