Vol. 409 No. 2
5 Mr. T. O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Labour if he will support the establishment of a national forum on unemployment comprising the Government, political parties, employers, trade unions, economic and social organisations and representatives of unemployed organisations with the objective of developing a shared analysis and policy recommendations to tackle the unemployment crisis.
29 Mr. Ryan asked the Minister for Labour if his attention has been drawn to the fact that our unemployment rate is twice that of the European Community according to official figures prepared under the auspices of the European Commission; if he will outline the immediate plans the Government are prepared to implement to reverse this increasing trend; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Question Nos. 5 and 29 together.
The whole question of Government policy to tackle the recent increase in unemployment, including the establishment of an all-party committee on unemployment, was dealt with in the course of the debate in the Dáil on Tuesday, 21 May 1991.
In my statement I referred to the increase in jobs during the peiod of the Programme for National Recovery and to the wide range of measures, to which the Government are totally committed, to stimulate growth and to generate employment.
Job creation is the number one priority and the Government are determined not to be deflected from the current strategy, agreed with all the major interests, to achieve the programme's economic and social objectives.
I accept that due to the Gulf War, coupled with the recessionary difficulties in the United Kingdom and the United States and a general slowing down in world trade, there has been a disappointing but temporary rise in unemployment here. We have to resist the temptation, however, to resort to panic measures which, in the long run, can prove counter-productive.
Since Tuesday's debate the ESRI have published their quarterly economic commentary and the OECD economic survey of Ireland has also been published. Both independent studies have endorsed current policies and expect that GNP will continue to grow at a robust rate with a continuing low inflation rate.
There can be no jobs without growth. The Programme for National Recovery demonstrated what can be achieved when there is consensus on the broad economic strategy and employment targets. The Programme for Economic and Social Progress is based on the same consensual approach and, I have no doubt, will be equally successful.
The central review committee enables representatives of all the major interests to meet regularly with representatives of Government to review and to make recommendations on developments under the programme. In this way the social partners, who are at the forefront of action on job creation, have a direct, on-going input into the Government's decision-making process on economic and social policy.
I believe that the committee satisfactorily fulfil their role and I do not see the need for the setting up of further bodies such as a separate national forum on unemployment.
Will the Minister tell the House whether this idea was put forward during the Programme for Economic and Social Progress discussions? The unions sought the setting up of a forum of this kind to tackle the problem of unemployment. The Minister said he would resist the temptation to resort to panic measures but this is the greatest problem facing the Government and, if anything, we have been inactive in this regard. Every Member must share the blame. However, in his speech last week the Minister did not give encouragement——
A question, please.
In his response to the Fine Gael Private Members' motion the Minister did not hold out any hope for job creation in the near future.
The Programme for National Recovery generated 70,000 jobs in the private sector although there has been a slow down in growth——
They are the Minister's figures.
They are the official statistics.
They do not add up.
The target under the present programme is 20,000 jobs for each of the three years. During the first quarter there was an international slowdown and unemployment increased rapidly in countries which are trading partners. The Minister for Industry and Commerce, with the IDA and CTT, is trying to attract new investment and to help indigenous investment which will halt the slide of unemployment. I hope it will also create new jobs. I am not saying that Deputy O'Sullivan is complacent but it would be wrong, on the advice we got from the ESRI, OECD and other independent people, to rush into generating jobs in the public sector which would be counter-productive in the long term.
The purpose of my question was to encompass a wider range of services and people affected by unemployment, the social organisations and, indeed, the unemployed who have now organised themselves. Does anybody listen to what they say? Will they be included in the Minister's committee and to what extent?
The issue of local employment groups was raised during the Programme for Economic and Social Progress and the agreement was in relation to area based strategy — on which questions will be asked later on — which involve the unemployment action groups, employers and the State enterprises at local level. The strategy will be implemented in 12 pilot areas initially.
