Vol. 431 No. 1
2 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the number of persons, both male and female, employed in the manufacturing industry in Dublin in 1980 and for the most recent year for which figures are available and the way in which this trend compares with the rest of the country.
The number of males and females employed in manufacturing industries in the Dublin region and in the State as a whole for the years 1981 and 1991 is contained in a statement which I propose to circulate in the Official Report.
Following is the statement:
Persons at Work in Manufacturing Industries in 1981 and 1991
|
1981 (1) |
1991 (2) |
|||
|
Dublin |
State |
Dublin |
State |
|
|
Thousands |
Thousands |
|||
|
Males |
53.3 |
174.4 |
41.7 |
160.1 |
|
Females |
22.5 |
63.8 |
17.7 |
63.5 |
|
Total |
75.8 |
238.1 |
59.4 |
223.6 |
(1) 1981 Census of Population.
(2) Labour Force Survey.
Is the Minister of State aware that Dublin's total workforce in industry has declined by 22 per cent, its building employment has declined by 31 per cent, its public service employment by 13 per cent and its communications employment by 6 per cent in the time in question? In all, this took 34,000 jobs out of Dublin. Will the Minister of State circulate to the 15 members of the Cabinet the statistics on the decline in employment in Dublin during the past ten years that resulted in twice the unemployment growth in Dublin compared with the rest of the country so that Ministers might take account of this in policy formulation?
The Deputy's question is clearly statistical and matters appertaining to policy should not arise.
I did not raise a policy issue.
If the Deputy is dealing with figures he is quite in order.
There is an information deficit.
It was a request rather than a question, but the Deputy's figures in regard to the change in Dublin in the past ten years are incorrect.
Will the Minister of State refer to the Census of Population 1981 and the labour force survey of 1991? He should ask his officials to examine those figures again. Will he circulate the figures to the 15 members of Cabinet so they can take them into account in the formulation of policy which has been consistently biased against Dublin?
Is he afraid to do that?
I am afraid of very little, particularly Members across the floor who do not have the courtesy to listen to answers.
I am delighted to hear that; the Minister will need plenty of courage before he has completed his job.
The figures the Deputy quoted are incorrect. I can only go by official figures and I do not know from where he got his.
Will the Minister agree that the statistical information that is presumably contained in his table challenges the conventional wisdom which is that parts of the country outside Dublin have done worse during the long period of unemployment and that the greatest black hole in regard to unemployment is concentrated in certain parts of the greater Dublin area? That challenges the political orthodoxy and is a good reason for circulating the figures to the other members of the Cabinet.
The Deputy is entering into a policy area.
Deputy Rabbitte is correct in stating that manufacturing industry, in particular, outside Dublin has done marginally better than in Dublin, but I do not have the information in regard to specific areas of Dublin. I have only got the overall figure for Dublin.
We will now take Priority Questions to the Minister for the Environment and may I say, ad nauseam, that 20 minutes only is provided for Priority Questions in our Standing Orders.
