Motion No. 19, Senator Durkan. The Senator has 20 minutes and each succeeding speaker ten minutes, under the new rule.
Job Creation Proposals: Motion.
An Leas-Chathaoirleach
I move:
That Seanad Éireann calls on the Government to outline its proposals for the creation of further jobs in manufacturing industry in the next 12 months so that industrial workers who have been unemployed for a considerable time can have an opportunity of obtaining gainful employment.
This motion was first placed on the Order Paper during the summer. It was placed on the Order Paper because of the importance and the emphasis that we on this side of the House place on the need to provide the industrial jobs that seem to have eluded us in the past couple of years.
We on this side of the House place tremendous emphasis and importance on the very vital issue of the provision of jobs. It is something which seems to have eluded us in the past couple of years. There have been a number of problems, some internal and some external, which have affected the number of jobs that we would expect to have provided in the normal course of events. I will try to deal with them in so far as I can. I believe that it is the responsibility of the Government of the day to take the measures necessary to bring about the economic climate to ensure that the jobs are in fact created.
There are a number of ways to approach the issue. The motion is quite expansive because it would entail responsibility by the Government, the employers and the workers concerned. It will be the result of a team effort, and if we do not have that kind of team effort we will not achieve our objectives. It is the responsibility of Government to give leadership and to ensure that the proper economic climate is created whereby industry can prosper, and if prosper means making a profit then so be it, because unless there is some element of profit there naturally will be no incentive for the business community to take the risks that are vitally necessary in order to provide those jobs that we need.
On the other hand, and this to my mind is the main reason for placing this motion on the Order Paper, there is a grave danger now, having regard to the numbers of people we have unemployed and the length of time that some of them have been unemployed and are likely to be unemployed, that they will find themselves in a long period of time losing the incentive and the will to work. Their families as a result of that attitude and those circumstances will suffer and society in general will suffer in the years to come.
From my experience in dealing with the public I believe that there is now general agreement that something can and must be done which will ensure that those people now unemployed and who have no realistic possibility of getting employment in the foreseeable future will be given some kind of hope. I have referred to the significance of this from the point of view of their families and the country generally.
The most important element in job creation is to ensure that there is some confidence in industry generally. That can be generated in a number of ways. A number of people are responsible and will have to take responsibility. The fact that we have a jobs crisis now should inspire all of the parties concerned to make greater efforts and thereby ensure a successful outcome.
As I said earlier, the partnership includes the Government, the employers, the unions, the workers, if you like, and the financial institutions who I believe have also responsibility in the matter. The employers must have an incentive for putting their money and their initiative on the line. If they do not have some foreseeable return for investment they are not likely to do so. It is up to the Government to provide the economic climate for that.
The unions have been fairly responsible. In my own meetings with various union representatives it was shown that they are responsible. Their objective is to ensure that we will tackle the crisis with which we are faced and they are agreeable to co-operate with both Government and employers to achieve that objective. One matter that seems to have come in for quite considerable comment in the recent past is in relation to redundancy payments. It seems to have become attractive, and in the short-term profitable, for employees who are in an industry that is ailing to have no other objective than to look for the highest possible redundancy payments. That is a sad mental attitude in our society, and something must be done to change it. This does not come from me but from the people with whom I deal and in fact from many trade unionists themselves who claim that statutory settlements are quite all right and quite in order and are quite acceptable, but in many cases there are settlements well in excess of that which do little or nothing for the firms who are already in difficulty but seems to hurry them out of existence. That is one area that needs attention. If it does not get attention it will have very far-reaching repercussions for industry in general.
There is difficulty in relation to people who have been unemployed for a long time because the rest of the working population have got the impression that they will be faced with the prospect of carrying an ever-increasing burden in the way of PRSI payments for a long time with little or no hope of relief from that burden because on the one hand the number of people unemployed is getting bigger and on the other hand the amount of money being raised through PAYE and other taxation from the working population is increasing. The burden is getting greater all the time on those who are at work.
I believe that the lending institutions have a big responsibility. We cannot expect industry to prosper or expect us to tackle the unemployment situation and to make any worthwhile inroads in those areas when interest rates are either around or in excess of 20 per cent. In these circumstances we cannot hope to resolve the unemployment problem and to have a profit for the firms who are investing and who are borrowing money and who we do not want to contribute further to inflation. The combination is incompatible.
Another area is the building industry, where there is ample scope for the provision of jobs. Sadly it has been shown to be lacking particularly over the last six or seven months. I am not making a political point, but a discussion with anyone in the building industry at the moment will very quickly illustrate the severe difficulties into which that industry has fallen in the last few months.
If we are to survive we should try to ensure that those areas which can provide jobs on the one hand and at the same time, as has happened in relation to the building industry, provide a very useful facility, should not be starved of finance. Over the last six or seven months there has been the problem that for one reason or another it has been difficult to raise funds by builders or by individual potential loan applicants either to raise funds directly themselves or obtain bridging finance. This has caused serious problems; it has been raised on a number of occasions and it is still a very serious problem.
The motor industry has been brought to our attention many times. This is another area where the number of jobs could be expanded, but in fact have not.
Indeed of late the industry has seen fit to reduce the apprentices it had become accustomed to take on each year. It is an area to which, if we have a need for a private transport system, and I believe we have, we should pay particular attention in order to encourage the garages to continue in business and to provide a high standard of service to the motoring public and be able to extend the life of motor vehicles. This would have the dual benefit of reducing our trade balance on the one hand and provding more jobs indigenously on the other.
Another thing to consider at the moment is the absolute importance of home-based industry. There must be some emphasis placed on that at this stage. I refer to the agri-industry, food processing and any other type of industry which draws its raw materials from this country. That has the effect of giving jobs to those involved in the production of the raw materials and at the same time is providing jobs in the area in which the industry is sited and contributing to the well-being of the community at large. Many of these things have been lacking for some time. Unless we take the necessary measures to resolve some of those problems in the not too distant future we will not tackle the job crisis.
The Government have introduced a document which is now called The Way Forward. Unfortunately, having read it I fail to see how it can be interpreted as such. It sounds more to me like the way downward, because it merely shows a continuation of the trend we have experienced in the last few months. The authors of the document would argue that this is not so, that there are very useful projections in it, and so there are, but the projections are only as good as they are accurate. From past experience I do not believe that they will be accurate. One of the areas in which the document will become seriously at variance with the circumstances is in the field of net job creation over the period of the plan. I do not accept that it is possible, given the present economic climate, given the trends for the last year or year-and-a-half, to achieve the objectives set out in the plan. If it is possible, I would like to see some very specific indication as to how that is to be achieved.
Another problem which is the responsibility of Government, this refers to both the agri-business and general industry. People say we are not competitive enough, that we have failed to sell on international markets, that our farmers and industrialists are not prepared to compete and are unable to compete. But the major underlying factor which seems to have escaped many people is simply that our costs bear no relation whatever to those of our competitors. When we consider that our industrialists are competing with the highly sophisticated industrial network in Europe, even in the field of agriculture, with the highly aided and advanced techniques employed by our counterparts, then at the same time consider the reward for the investment in those countries and compare that with the reward for investment in this country, we can realise that one of the main reasons we are failing to compete is not because we do not know how to do it, not because we do not present our goods or articles properly, but simply because our costs are way ahead of anything that our competitors have to deal with.
In the National Economic and Social Council synopsis of a report, Conclusions and Recommendations, page 11, 2.14, the IDA in a recent report on agricultural processing industry stated:
Companies themselves as distinct from central marketing boards must seek to complement the work of the central boards and develop a greater awareness of the demands and opportunities in the market place.
The IDA believe that there is a requirement for companies to become directly involved in the marketing of specialised branded products. A footnote states:
Only 8 per cent of the IDA's total product and process development funds was taken up by the food processing industry over the period 1976 to 1981. The source for that is the strategy for development of the agricutural processing industry in Ireland, June 1982.
This is low particularly when the industry accounts for 25 per cent of total employment. This is an area where it must be pointed out, first of all, that there are adequate funds available for development of industry in a particular sector, that there are adequate raw materials available. The only element that is lacking in the combination is the proper climate to ensure that people are prepared to take the risks inherent in that kind of business or in any kind of business.
The timber processing industry is another area. It has been mentioned many times in the past that in this area large amounts of unprocessed timber have been and are being exported and in fact are thereby depriving our workers of a very valuable source of income and are depriving our balance of payments of a very useful element in combating the problem.
Coming from County Kildare obviously I am aware of the problems in the sense that in the last two years we have lost 700 jobs in manufacturing industry. Two other industries are in serious difficulties, one with the possible loss of 120 jobs by Christmas and the other with the loss of 62 jobs by the end of the year. The prospects for our workers are grim to say the least. There is an absolute need for central Government to give a lead and to create, and I repeat this and emphasise it, the economic climate which will render it possible for the people who need to take the risks, the people with the ingenuity and the expertise to create the industry, which will relieve the problems we are faced with.
I do not want to prolong the discussion, I had anticipated a somewhat longer period for each speaker.
I second the motion. First of all I would like to welcome the Minister to the House and congratulate him on his appointment. For whatever length he is in that position I wish him the best of luck and progress.
I second this motion which calls on the Government, or indeed the incoming Government, to outline its proposals for the creation of further jobs in manufacturing industry in the next 12 months, because it is extremely important, with the accelerating growth in our unemployment, now reaching the 200,000 mark, that every effort be made to ensure employment for our young people. There are many fine reports in relation to the whole industrial scene. It would take a longer debate to go into them in detail. There are many salient points coming forward which are worth noting and which any Government concerned about employment for young people, in particular, should take stock of.
A recent report by the NESC on population and labour force projections spells out the daunting task facing us. More than 14,000 new jobs will have to be created annually over the next ten years. If we look back on the past year between June 1971 and June of this year there was a decrease of 5,800 in the number employed in industrial employment. The increase which we must get is far in excess of the average requirement in other EEC countries — 1.09 per cent per annum against 0.6 per cent per annum. While this poses a problem to the Government it also provides a challenge. It can be met provided there is proper leadership and united action by a concerned Government. Unfortunately to date, when one looks back at the developments of the last seven or eight months this leadership and united action have not been seen. The Confederation of Irish Industry have made available some very fine points in relation to the industrial scene. There is also available an article entitled "Economic Trends" which spells out precisely the difficulty we are in and the task which is before us. It states:
Manufacturing output in the last two years has been sustained by the resilience of the more technologically advanced industries and the additions to companies resulting from the start up of new companies. An analysis of the performance of various sectors of manufacturing industry shows an alarming picture of decline in industries which account for some 50 per cent of manufacturing net output. On average, half of industry recorded a decline in the volume of output of 15 per cent in the period from the first half of 1980 to the first half of 1982.
It goes on, and it is worth recording in this House:
Declines of this magnitude are clearly not caused by the recession alone. They are a demonstration of creeping damage that is being done in recent years as a result of excessive Government spending and high borrowing, which has caused inflation.
The situation is critical, and it must be accepted as that. In the interest of providing employment for the growing numbers of young people, definite policies in regard to industrial employment must be drawn up and implemented. There are many areas where employment can be improved. The recent Telesis report which we were awaiting a long time has been brought before the Government. It is a very comprehensive report. It calls for proper planning of the many facets of industry. This is something we have been lacking. There are many areas of industry working on their own with this co-ordination which is so vital. The IDA have done tremendous work. This has not been denied in the Telesis report. Overall there is a lack of co-ordination, a lack of policy to provide the employment which is so necessary.
Indeed this employment can be provided in many areas, for instance, in the agricultural processing sector. I would like to refer briefly to that. In 1981 some 47,000 people were employed in the agricultural processing sector. In 1980 agricultural processing contributed about £617 million in value added and accounted for 25 per cent of total value added in manufacturing in Ireland. There is still scope for further improvement in this area. A recent report circulated by the IDA named "A Strategy for the Development of Agricultural Processing Industry in Ireland" is welcome. It gives a very detailed analysis of the many sectors of the industry. In a concise and carefully worded introduction the IDA stress the importance of a co-ordinated approach to development by those responsible for supplying the industry and on the other hand by those charged with the task of marketing the final product. Here again the proper will on the part of the Government is necessary to ensure success.
As I come from the west I would like to refer very briefly to the success story of Shannon Development. Shannon Development have carried out a wonderful industrial development in the west. In co-operation with the IMI and the NIHE they have organised practical and effective training courses for small industrialists. Recognising that the technological revolution and the advent of the microprocessor can be daunting to the small industrialists, they set up innovation and micro-electronic application centres at the NIHE campus in Limerick. These are proving of exceptional advantage to industrialists of the area. This type of imaginative development should be tackled now on a country-wide basis to improve the potential for job creation. Indeed this concept of innovation is something which is widely proclaimed and is called for in a recent OECD report on scientific and technological policy. This report studies and stresses the importance of stimulating innovation in small and medium firms as a means of creating employment in the manufacturing sector. It says that while the aim of research is to produce knowledge, innovation is to produce objects which work and can be sold. Many small firms in Ireland are continually improving their products and processes. But a small proportion only are engaged in research into this innovative type of business which can improve the viability and output of their industries.
I regret we have not more time to debate this very important motion. It is important in the sense that we have so many young people crying out for jobs in the country of their birth. There is a grave danger that unless some Government tackles the problem courageously and devises a policy which will ensure employment in the future the position will lead to chaos. I formally second the motion.
Firstly, I should like to thank Senators for their good wishes to me in my Department. Indeed, as I said in the Dáil last night, one does not know for how long that will be, but however short, I trust I shall enjoy the challenge.
1983 will be a most difficult and challenging period for manufacturing industry. Industry will not and has not been left on its own to provide for its survival. The fiscal and corrective measures proposed in the Government's economic plan will lay the foundations on which industry can organise and operate its affairs with the necessary confidence.
Industry, of course, must help itself. Getting our unit costs competitive, combined with having the right products, quality and service can ensure that industry will be very well placed to take advantage of the long awaited revival in world trade. It is not just at national level that the main changes must occur. The company is the place where things do and must happen.
The Government's economic plan states clearly that the manufacturing sector will continue to be the critical element for the development of the economy and the expansion of employment opportunities over the plan period.
During the 1970's, Ireland was the only EEC country to experience a net increase in employment in manufacturing industry. This achievement occurred in the face of a number of international recessions which seriously affected companies' plans to develop as expected. In the face of these adverse conditions we in Ireland continue to secure a high level of investment commitments with high job potential. Between 1973 and 1981, for example, a total of 92,000 jobs were created in manufacturing industry which were still in existence at the end of that period. This is a considerable achievement on the part of Irish industry.
Despite this record of job creation, employment in manufacturing industry has declined slightly since 1980. The major factors causing this decline were: the downturn in overall domestic and world demand and its effect on the trading environment with consequent job losses; a reduced level of job creation, again reflecting the uncertain trading environment facing manufacturing industry and increased competition for a declining pool of mobile international investment; reduced competitiveness of Irish manufacturing industry. Unit wage costs in Irish manufacturing have been growing much faster than in competitor countries in recent years. Other important areas where we have been failing to compete include quality and range of goods, reliability of delivery and price. These factors would seem to be particularly important in the loss of home market share to imports. Import penetration increased from 29 per cent of domestic demand in 1977 to 37.5 per cent in 1980.
In 1983 the IDA expect to create between 12,000 and 13,000 first-time jobs in new and expanding manufacturing industries. Major industries who have already announced that they are commencing production or expanding existing operations in the coming months, include Wang, Mostek, Perkin Elmer and Data Packaging.
Atari Incorporated recently announced that they would be setting up their European headquarters in Limerick and expect to employ 600 people in 1983. Also Aughinish Alumina will begin operations next year with the creation of 800 new manufacturing jobs.
The Shannon Development Company has also set itself ambitious job targets for the year ahead. SFADCo plan to create a total of 1,000 jobs on the Shannon Industrial Estate and to help indigenous industry in the Mid-West region. These figures demonstrate what effective and dedicated State agency staff can achieve even when times are hard. If the community as a whole were to fall behind these efforts, we can do even much greater things. If industry responds adequately to the improvement in competitiveness projected in the economic plan this will result in a level of job creation never previously obtained even in the boom times of the sixties and seventies.
An overall improvement in manufacturing employment next year will depend crucially on the extent to which jobs lost in the past few years are recovered as the Irish and world economies emerge from recession; the extent to which we can regain some of the cost competitiveness which we have lost in recent years particularly in the domestic market; and the extent to which Irish industry can improve its quality, delivery and marketing to increase its share in the slow growing world market.
The Government are determined to tackle these issues, to strengthen Ireland's manufacturing base and to increase its job potential over the coming years.
Policy measures being adopted by my Department, which will be published in detail in a White Paper on Industrial Policy at the end of the year, will include the adoption of a "company approach" in dealing with medium/large indigenous industry, i.e., where the development agencies will deal with companies at the level of their total business and its strategic development rather than just on the basis of individual investment projects; continued development of the indigenous small industry base to include: (a) the extensive promotion of small industry by the IDA at regional level along the lines developed by SFADCo in the Mid-West; (b) the provision of incubator style factories attached to third level colleges as ways simultaneously to develop the marketing, financial, research and development, as well as production skills of new entrepreneurs; and (c) systematic policies to exploit import substitution and sub-supply possibilities for small firms. This will include policies to identify and match both the requirements of the purchasing firms and the capabilities of the supplier firms; the continued extensive promotion of overseas industry by the IDA especially in terms of providing highly skilled and sustainable jobs over the long-term.
A key development in our industrial development strategy is the promotion of the total business concept. The objective is to strengthen our industrial base through firstly having key and strategic functions such as research and development, product and process development and marketing undertaken by overseas firms in Ireland and, secondly, encouraging and supporting Irish companies to establish similar facilities in their plants. The benefits from such a strategy are manifold. In addition to ensuring the jobs of those already in employment, these activities give rise to high quality employment. These high calibre jobs are particularly suited to the skills and aptitudes of our young educated work force.
Furthermore, the IDA's rescue unit will continue to assist in preventing closures and job losses in firms experiencing short-time difficulties but which are essentially viable in the long term.
The possibilities for new employment creation are not the sole preserve of manufacturing industry. International trade in services such as software, R&D, engineering consultancy and specialised financial services offer tremendous potential for good quality employment creation.
The previous Fianna Fáil Government enacted legislation which empowered the IDA to provide grants to service projects which contribute to regional and national development. A new international service programme was launched by IDA in September 1981 which is now being followed by way of an intensive national and overseas campaign. This year the IDA expect to support international service projects which have the potential to provide 2,500 jobs when fully operational. An even higher target is planned for 1983 and 1984. No fewer than 1,000 new international service jobs were created in 1982 and with the building up of projects this number will rise significantly from 1983 onwards.
In short, the development of the industrial sector will continue to be a major arm of Government policy. Our ability to create and maintain long-term sustainable jobs next year and beyond will depend crucially on our ability to compete in the international market place. This in turn will depend on our ability to increase our competitiveness and improve our cost structures and on the adoption of policies to bring about such improvements. This Government are determined to show the way forward to sustained economic growth, falling unemployment and inflation and full exploitation of all our country's resources.
I thank Senators for their valued contributions. Senator Durkan mentioned a number of areas where he thought there could be improvements effected in job creation prospects. In the course of doing so he referred to the building industry, the motor industry and he mentioned the lending institutions. That was always a little hobby-horse of mine when on the backbenches — how the lending institutions could play a more social role in the social and economic advancement of our country. The Minister for Industry and Energy referred recently to the role of the banks in this respect. He said they needed to re-evaluate the role of the financial institutions and particularly the banks. He said he would be addressing this theme in the forthcoming White Paper.
In relation to interest rates, in August 1982 the Government introduced an expanded working capital scheme amounting to £50 million. For small and medium-sized firms the rate of interest on these funds, which are borrowed abroad, and on which the Exchequer bears the exchange risks, is 13 per cent or even lower. Certainly that is an attractive interest rate of which our people could avail. In relation to reward for investment it is true to say that the rate of return of US manufacturing investment in Ireland has been consistently higher than anywhere else in Europe. It has been about 30 per cent on average in recent years. These figures are compiled independently by the US Department of Commerce.
I shall conclude on that note. I am pleased to have had my baptism in the Seanad. My father was a Member of the House for about 25 years. However long my stay in this post I am pleased that at least I have had the opportunity to speak in the Upper House.
My congratulations also to the Minister of State. I wish him every success in his tenure of office, however long that may be. I was very interested indeed in his words — there was certainly a great whiff of Clare about his speech. I have a feeling now that somehow or other the winds of change are blowing and we shall all be propelled into a somewhat wider scenario.
It gives me pleasure to speak on this motion in the sense that I am pleased to be a Member of this House and to say something about it. On the other hand the actual message contained in the motion is extremely disturbing. The very fact that our manufacturing industry has virtually collapsed with calamitous effects on the work force is something any thinking person, or sentient person is fully aware of. Those of us in public life and who deal frequently with the victims of the recession, those who suddenly find themselves propelled on to the social welfare system, know only too well the dreaded impact of this kind of failure of this section of our economy on our people.
Unfortunately it is an area left largely without discussion. This concerns me very much because it is very easy, if indeed painful, to summarise things in terms of statistics, to look at our unemployment figures and social welfare recipients. But more and more there is a hidden statistic, that is one of sadness, grief, deep depression, anxiety, stress which will manifest itself in so many disturbing ways unless something is done about it and done soon. It is not enough merely to analyse the problem and present it, as has been done in this speech and indeed in the economic plan. It is one thing to make a diagnosis, to stand at the operating table and say: "Which of my tools am I going to use?" But it is quite another to have the courage and determination to use those tools, not in a bludgeoning manner but in a skilful, delicate, sensitive, rapier-like fashion to achieve the necessary results.
For those reasons and because the collapse of our manufacturing industry disturbs me greatly, I am pleased to speak. But I do want to see results from a Government capable of the kind of precision, delicacy of approach and sensitivity about which I have spoken in bringing about remedial action in this area.
I should like to confine my remarks to my own city of Waterford, indeed to the south-east in general where manufacturing industry is of enormous importance. Our unemployment figures are particularly bad. The unemployment rate in Waterford is twice the national average, which is a very disturbing thought. This is why the social factors and the impact of unemployment is something about which I know a great deal and which concerns me greatly. In speaking about Waterford I might refer to a report which has been commissioned by the Waterford Chamber of Commerce on industry and employment in Waterford city. It is an excellent report, issued about one week ago. Certainly it underlines the concern felt by people in Waterford that they would go to the trouble to commission a report like this. It was prepared by D. Graham. A.C.A., B.Sc. (Urban Economics) under the general guidance of D.E. O'Toole and J.C. Heylin, President and Secretary respectively of the Waterford Chamber of Commerce. The aim in producing this report was to highlight the serious problems affecting industrial growth and employment prospects in Waterford city. It shows how the difficulties have arisen. It also outlines general and specific proposals which will alleviate the current situation.
The majority of residents of Waterford city recognise that manufacturing industry is the dominant force in the city's economy. This does not arise from the products themselves but from the financial and indeed the economic benefits derived through employment. Therefore, manufacturing industry in Waterford is our life-blood. Any threat to it really causes ripples and then waves to rush through our city and indeed county. About a week ago there was a further staggering blow when the Waterford Iron Foundry was threatened with closure. I hope fervently that the Minister will do all that he can to protect Waterford Iron Foundry, to protect their employees, and will ensure that Waterford does not haemorrhage yet again with a further frightening loss of jobs with all its problems to which I have referred. I would make an appeal to the Minister especially about this. It is of enormous importance. That, coupled with the closures which Waterford has suffered, is very threatening indeed. I would like to call on all of those responsible — Fóir Teoranta, the IDA, the Minister himself, to get stuck in there and do something to save this very important factory.
Returning to this report, there are some comments I would like to make about the image of Waterford as a manufacturing city. It has been established that 35.6 per cent of all persons gainfully employed in Waterford County Borough in 1971 were in the producer, maker and repairer category. This level is significantly higher than in any other county borough. The importance of the total non-manual section in the county borough, at 51.6 per cent, is another factor that ought to be taken into consideration. During the current recession, which has hit Waterford so badly, the sector hit in a very severe way has been that of manufacturing. It is this section — as I have already pointed out — on which Waterford relies, more than any other major urban centre, to provide employment. I know the Minister is listening intently. I know that he takes my point, that it is catastrophic what is happening in the country generally and in Waterford in particular. This is why I am unashamedly making an appeal to him to do something for us because we are in a very bad way indeed.
Modern industries are obliged to cut back and rationalise in times of recession. But it is in the older, traditional industries that the effect of the recession is felt most. Closures have occurred in Waterford in the past. There is a litany of them. There is the National Board and Paper Mills; there is Munster Chipboard. These were both major sources of male employment. Of course there are still the traditional patterns — much as one would like to see them changed — the breadwinner losing his job obviously has an enormous impact on the social fabric of our society. All closures and consequential loss of employment and earnings will have detrimental effects on the economy of any city, and are having it on Waterford in particular.
With the prospect of a significant economic recovery not occurring for some time — even that is alluded to in The Way Forward in which there is talk of a four year plan — we are not talking about any rosy solutions just around the corner. It is very likely that further closures will be contemplated, particularly among the remaining traditional industries who, judging by published figures and press reports, are finding present trading conditions difficult. Of course measures like VAT at the point of entry also have a significant effect on manufacturing industry. Even at this late stage, in order to protect these jobs and in order to help the manufacturing industry, I would appeal to the Minister and to the Minister for Finance to have a look at that measure again. Many industries, in desperate straits because of cash flow problems, will do all that they can to avoid redundancy. Nevertheless, in manufacturing industries, it is very often the last solution with which they will be faced and they will have no other course. This business of VAT at the point of entry constitutes an enormous pressure. It must be seen to be so and to be having its effect in terms of redundancies and job losses generally, particularly in the manufacturing industry.
The Senator has half a minute remaining.
It is difficult to know exactly what to select when one has only a half minute to go.
In summing up, in speaking again about Waterford, about manufacturing industry and about job losses which we have suffered, the main categories in which our region is under-represented are textiles, clothing and footwear with only half of the average State level; also in the wood, furniture, paper and printing category where, in 1978, the region had .75 per cent only of the State's percentage of employment. Subsequent closures will have reduced this level considerably.
Of the new industries health-care and medical companies are prominent. The location of a subsidiary of Sterling Drug in Dungarvan — which has not happened but which we hope will happen — will increase the sectoral impact of the industry. I would refer again to Dungarvan where manufacturing jobs were lost hand-over-fist, where there is a level of unemployment which has not been seen in that town for a long time and where much-needed input is an urgent priority. I would impress this on the Minister.
I think the Senator's time is up.
I hope I have made my points and that the Minister has taken due note of them.
Ba mhaith liom ar an chéad dul síos fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit an chéad uair dó bheith anseo sa Seanad. Cheap an Seanadóir a bhí ag labhairt rómham nach mbeidh sé rofhad anseo. Bhféidir nach mbeidh an mí seo, ach beidh sé ar ais mar Aire Stáit i Mí Nollaig le cúnamh Dé.
There has been far too much pessimism voiced in a lot of the things that have been said on the report and particularly on The Way Forward. People have been nit-picking at what is a very imaginative and clear-cut document. Irrespective of whether it be a scalpel, a rapier or whatever may be the tool used, it must be used properly. We will use either the scalpel or the rapier and we will use it properly.
In regard to industrial expansion, if one looks throughout our small towns and villages — where there was no employment for a long number of years —one will see that the IDA with its small industries plan has revitalised them. Indeed Senator Bulbulia mentioned that the Minister of State had given us a Clare by-election speech. I contend that Senator Bulbulia has made a Waterford election speech. Good luck to her; she is entitled to do so. Looking at my own small village, when I went there 27 years ago as a young boy there were 14 people employed. There have been over 250 people employed there over the past ten years in small industries we brought in ourselves. Granted we received help from the IDA when we brought forward our proposals to them. A lot of this gloom we hear voiced is because there is not enough self-help, self-sufficiency or perhaps national pride felt. With such national pride in ourselves we might say: in my area I am going to work and I am going to see that we get these small industries. These small industries are available if we go looking for them, not alone in my area but throughout the country. We are too dependent on the State. We do not have sufficient regard for the entrepreneur, for private industry, for the man who is prepared to stick out his neck and say: "I will try". Then let the State give him a hand. But we should not always say the State has not done this or that for my area. We are doing it; the IDA are doing it and it can be seen in our document The Way Forward. If there is the temerity to bring us down tomorrow evening I know that when we come back into Government on 25 or 30 November when we put forward our document The Way Forward, this country will be seen to be in good shape within the next two years.
It is now 8 o'clock and the time fixed for taking the Matter on the Adjournment. Before calling on Senator West I wonder could I have an indication from Senator Ryan of when it is proposed to sit again?
We will be adjourning sine die.
Debate adjourned.