Vol. 438 No. 4
42 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if he will ensure that the present level of employment in the textile industry is maintained following completion of the Uruguay round; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
It is difficult at this stage to quantify the likely overall impact on employment which the GATT deal will have on the textiles and clothing sectors. During the negotiations particular attention was paid to the sensitivity of these industries for Ireland. Our overall objective was to ensure that the gradual integration of the Multifibre Arrangements (MFA) into GATT would be linked to a strengthening of GATT rules and disciplines and a satisfactory outcome to the market access package. This has largely been achieved. It is hoped therefore that any job losses which might arise will be kept to an absolute minimum.
The gradual 10 year integration of the MFA into GATT which is expected to commence in 1995, will allow the textiles and clothing industries sufficient time to restructure and reposition in order to concentrate on the higher quality segment of the market.
Competitiveness is the key issue facing these sectors and the House is already aware that in August 1993 I announced that a sum of up to £5 million would be made available to fund two special initiatives designed to help companies in the clothing industry to become more competitive. They are
(i) a research and development scheme which operates under the existing R and D programmes run by the industrial development state agencies and
(ii) a FÁS training support scheme.
