I thank the Minister for taking the time to come in and listen to my proposal for a woodpulp factory to be sited in County Leitrim. I wish to refer to recent statements and decisions of the Minister for Finance on decentralisation and, in particular, I welcome the location of a section of the Department of Social Welfare in Sligo. It is long recognised that decentralisation boosts local economies, provides local job opportunities and revitalises local communities which have suffered social imbalances caused by migration to the East coast and emigration. Even a cursory examination of the demographic distribution of population in Ireland will reveal instantly that one of the black spots is undoubtedly County Leitrim. Constant migration, and in the recent past accelerated emigration, if allowed to continue, will result in a dwindling, ageing and eventually totally dependent population.
Thank God, we now have an opportunity to halt this enervating trend. With one bold and imaginative stroke, this disastrous degeneration of a mainly rural population can be halted. All that is required is a breadth of vision and political will. I refer, of course, to the development of the timber industry. My reference to the policy of decentralisation in this context may appear slightly irrelevant, but my point is that all of the advantages of the philosophy are even more enhanced by the location of an industry and its regulating body in the correct place from day one. No social upheaval is necessary. Nobody need feel any compulsion to move.
In short, my submission is that the new forestry body and the proposed woodpulp industry should be located in County Leitrim. I will endeavour to show that this is no mere call for an industrial development based merely on the premise that we should get what is going regardless of good economic criteria. This call is based on sound and true principles of political economy which apply to the location of the industry. A brief regression to our school days will remind us of those principles. One principle is the availability of raw materials. County Leitrim is 7 per cent planted, produces 50,000 cubic metres of timber per year which, when projected forward, rises to 60,000 cubic metres by 1990 and 100,000 cubic metres by 1995. Furthermore, Leitrim has been designated by An Foras Forbartha as probably the finest timber growing area in Europe. It already gives a yield of 28 per cent above the national average. Another powerful point in Leitrim's favour is that it is the epicentre of an area comprising parts of counties Donegal, Sligo, Roscommon, Cavan, Fermanagh and Tyrone which posses the same drumlin soil on which we are providing vast quantities of timber.
In relation to the viability of any industry there is the vital ingredient of added value. At present when the commercial saw log timber has been processed there is a residue of about 30 per cent. This resource is generally turned into fencing posts and firewood, giving a low added value of £43 per cubic metre. If this was processed as woodpulp and turned into tissue, it would give us a figure of up to £315 per cubic metre. Therefore, the location of such an industry in Leitrim, the centre of the region, makes irrefutable sense.
Infrastructure is rightly regarded as an essential ingredient in determining the location of industry and, in the case of Leitrim, a reasonable investment in roads, which will be necessary in any event, would provide ease of access to all forest areas. Our communications system is second to none. We have thousands of square feet of empty advance factory space in every town in the county. Conversion to a plant and office would be relatively simple. Furthermore, judicious allocation of the regional and structural funds, to which we are entitled, would very quickly extend our regional water and sewerage schemes to the whole county. Availability of labour is another sine qua non for a viable industrial location. In this respect Leitrim and its surrounding areas have a plentiful supply of highly skilled and highly educated labour. No employer need fear any shortage of willing and adaptable workers.
From a social point of view we can offer serviced sites for housing in scenic locations on uncrowded roads — albeit there are loads of potholes — a healthy environment, total absence of the more nasty aspects of the rat race, friendly people, excellent schools and, of course, boating, hunting, shooting and fishing, although the latter is sadly no longer free. The County Leitrim Development Team and the county council for many years were involved in the promotion of afforestation. The establishment of a wood processing industry has been a priority for some considerable time. In October, 1985 the County Development Team made a submission to the then Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, Mr. Paddy O'Toole, in relation to the establishment of a major wood processing plant in County Leitrim.
A certain amount of urgency is now attached to this matter. Consequently the team came to the conclusion after many deputations and consultations with interests and local industry, the IDA and some financial institutions that, (1) the most suitable process of the pulpwood processing giving the maximum added value would be the manufacture of tissue, (2) that this type of project is best provided by a multinational corporation which would have finance, machinery, management, structure and marketing capacity, (3) that the IDA should be encouraged to promote with enterprises known to them the setting up of this project in County Leitrim as recommended by An Foras Talúntais.
May I sum up by reiterating that what I propose is a viable economic proposition which stands on its own feet and will bear any examination on any criteria. If we add the social dimension of desirability there can be no argument. For far too long we in Leitrim and the West generally have seen our hopes dashed on one pretext or another and it is time we had our fair share of development. Here we have all the conditions necessary to set up an indigenous industry. It is not just that we want the industry, we need it. The future of the county depends on it.
