Last week I was talking about the situation in Somalia. Something which has disturbed me and, I am sure, many other people was the attitude taken in the Sunday Independent last week by one of the writers who tried to rubbish the visit of President Robinson to Somalia. His report did not diminish the role played by the President and by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, but rather it adversely affected the way many people felt towards him. It should be said that the visits to Somalia by President Robinson and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Andrews, were extremely useful in making more people around the world concerned about what is happening in that area. To suggest that the visit was of no consequence and that it diminished the role of the Presidency was an insult to the Irish people and to everybody who has a caring attitude towards the people of Somalia. We should recognise that that visit was of extreme importance, even if Mr. Dunphy does not feel it was. Mr. Dunphy should visit areas of the world where there are more important items to be discussed than perhaps he is capable of discussing. He should go and see the situation for himself and then write from the perspective of being there rather than talking in terms of what he called the minor role that can be played by the President of Ireland and the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
When I was speaking last week I mentioned the fact that throughout the world there are many areas where problems such as famine and deprivation have been addressed by the European Community over the past number of years — for example, Ethiopia, Sudan and Afghanistan. Not alone do we have to address the problem of famine occurring from natural causes, but we have to address ourselves also to a resolution of the horrific civil wars that are going on in many of these countries. We cannot suggest that these problems can be resolved in the countries themselves. There has to be a major international intervention, and the major international intervention I would like to see would be that the arms salesmen of the world would be prevented from selling to these areas.
In many of these countries, where there is deprivation and horrific poverty and death, it is caused by people in the western world who, because of the lowering of tension as a result of the ending of the Cold War, have armaments to sell and they are selling them to these countries. We see that on the west coast of America nearly 250,000 people will lose there jobs in the armaments industry because of the ending of the Cold War. We see the former states of the USSR with arms to sell, and they can be sold openly in any place. There was much said yesterday about some man in England who went off and bought a Russian Mig fighter in Poland. If a private individual can go off and buy a Russian Mig fighter, you can well imagine what an arms dealer can do with money to spend and with customers readily available in the poorer countries of the Third World.
The European Community is going to have to take a very strong line in any international negotiations that take place on disarmament, because there is no point in disarming the warlords unless we disarm the people who are selling the arms in the first place. They are in Europe, in America and in the former territories of the CIS, and Britain, France and Germany and not without considerable blame in this area also. We see in the Gulf area, where we had an horrific short war not so long ago, that the United States have now sold some 76 F-15 airplanes to Saudi Arabia at a cost of $35 billion. The main reason the Saudis say they are buying these aircraft is because of the fact that Iran has now bought quite a number of submarines from the former USSR.
Consider the implications of $35 billion to be spent for the 76 F-15 planes. The Saudis have said that the future of Saudi Arabia is in their two new cities of Yanbu and Jubail. The total involvement by Saudi Arabia in the development of these industrial cities has been in the region of $20 billion to $22 billion, Europe and America have put in the rest, and it comes to exactly the same amount as the Saudis are putting into buying these F-15 planes. Basically, what they are doing is paying back the United States for the help that they got in "Desert Storm".
I am sorry for developing these points, but I think we should at least address current matters which are to some extent outside the ambit of the various reports. Since the break-up of the eastern bloc we have had the horrific example of violence in Yugoslavia. It seems as if this ethnic cleansing will continue and that no effort will be made by the international community to get involved in, as they say, the internal politics of the area. Unfortunately, it is not entirely internal politics. When the break-up of Yugoslavia occurred, some countries decided they wanted to go it alone again and the EC recognised these countries. Therefore, it is definitely a matter of concern for the EC that we should be involved in trying to stop the rape of what was Yugoslavia. It is estimated that up to 300,000 people could die in that area because of the winter conditions and the lack of food and of shelter.
We in Ireland have to address in a more competent manner the problem of refugees. We have taken in over 200 people from Bosnia and they are living in reasonable conditions in north County Dublin. The problem with this is that this might give people the idea that a refugee camp over there is the same as a refugee camp in Ireland. The difference between the conditions of those 200 refugees lodged in Ireland and the conditions of refugees in other camps abroad has to be seen to be believed.
I was one of a group who visited a refugee camp where over 10,000 people were living in tent conditions in the desert near Aden looked after by the French relief group, Medicins sans Frontiéres. Their living conditions could not be compared with the conditions of refugees in Ireland. Pictures of refugees enjoying themselves in Ireland does not mean that refugees around the world live in similar conditions. Refugees live in tented areas and under horrific conditions in many areas of the world and it is up to Ireland and the EC to ensure that their conditions are improved.
There has been much talk about Ireland's ODA contribution. We must increase the present amount. I realise that even though we have not reached the United Nations recommended level of ODA spending, through the EC we have increased our input into overseas development agencies. It may be necessary to revise the tax system to allow for a specific amount of money to be given to overseas development agencies. There is no other way to do it; unfortunately, nowadays, nothing is given for nothing. Irish people are very generous and within the confines of our budgetary situation we should consider the provision of a very small percentage of our tax revenue for the alleviation of poverty and to deal with crises outside Ireland. Some people will say we should address our own major problems and forget those of other countries. No nation can live in isolation today. We need the outside world just as much as it needs us.
I agree that Ireland has huge problems today. We speak about warlords in places like Ethiopia, Somalia and the Sudan but we have warlords here in Ireland also and indeed all over Europe. The warlords we encounter are those of the commercial world who use currency for their own ends without any thought of consequent damage to the national infrastructure and to the personal lives of thousands. They are the worst type of warlord. Currency speculators such as those of the past month have to be defeated; they are of no use for the development of business or the enhancement of nations. They should be condemned wherever possible.
Over the past number of years I have been a critic of the Central Bank and in particular of its Governor, Mr. Maurice Doyle, believing that the Bank has not contributed to our industrial development. Its excessive conservatism has held interest rates at unsustainably high levels for too long. However, in the current crisis both the Department of Finance and the Central Bank have acted extremely well. They have protected our currency and, consequently, current and future jobs.
International banking circles in Europe praised the Minister for Finance and the Central Bank for moves taken to protect our currency during the opening weeks of this massive rapacious attack. Present interest rates may be blamed on the actions of those rapacious speculators.
I am glad the Government have moved in to help those struggling hard to protect jobs in a difficult economic environment. The past number of years has witnessed a massive worldwide recession. Ireland, in terms of its exports, GDP and GNP has done exceptionally well on foot of Government policies. We need jobs and they will follow if current Government policies on job creation can be followed through. We also need financial help. At present the companies that will be helped most financially under the official scheme are those coming under pressure because of the growing strength of foreign currencies, and in particular of the pound. In the main they are exporting companies but I hope the Government do not forget the horrific high interest rate problems encountered by small service industries and by agriculture.
I agree with assisting export companies in the present currency situation but many export companies received substantial EC or State grants when setting up and may also avail of a very low tax rate of 35 per cent on their exports compared to the normal business taxation rates applying to other smaller firms who contribute indirectly to our exports success. The EC can help here. Meetings have taken place recently where it was suggested that under EC rules assistance to industry would breach free trade regulations.
The major problem associated with these six monthly EC statements is that they contain statements and records of meetings where unemployment has been one of the core issues on every case. Unemployment has grown over the past number of years throughout Europe and EC policies have not been able to reverse the trend. Efforts have been made in many areas of the Community to devise short term measures to alleviate problems associated with unemployment but unfortunately 90 per cent of these measures have had no long term benefit. Many courses have been set up but they have not led to sustainable jobs. The Government must monitor every EC effort to ensure that money spent on courses, whether through FÁS or otherwise, is productively allocated, leading to sustainable jobs and improving the status of the participants.
We must foster employment-related skills. There is no point in putting people through a six month or 12 month course if it is not going to lead to the prospect of a job afterwards. Highly skilled, highly educated people should not be entered on short term courses that do not enhance skills or increase the probability of finding work.
In the past number of months we have witnessed the great debate on Maastricht. Irish people have followed tradition by indicating that they believe our future lies in a stronger Europe. Situated on the periphery we need a strong Europe in which there will be less paperwork and fewer problems in trading with mainland partners, our largest market. In the past, paper work has accounted for up to 10 per cent of the cost of exporting and anything that brings these costs down is worth fighting for. Maastricht offers a guarantee in this respect.
Regarding the Danish "no" vote, I heard the editor of the premier Danish business magazine being interviewed on "Morning Ireland" last week when he said that nobody in Denmark can say why the Danes voted "no"; a hundred Danish people would give a hundred different reasons. It is important for us to find out why they voted "no" but it is more important that they find out for themselves.
Britain has itself to blame for its recent difficulties. It is strange to hear Mr. John Major suggest that Maastricht is the be-all and end-all of things when Britain has pulled out of the ERM and by doing so has created more difficulties for itself in the long term, and for us in the short term.
Britain is a divided country which still considers itself a colonial power and believes it should be the premier runner in Europe, not realising that its economy is in decline as is evident by the substantial rise in forced redundancies over the past number of weeks. Britain's industry is outdated. It has not kept up to date as we have and will suffer over the next number of years because of that.
Agriculture has played a dominant role in the Irish economy until now and this trend will continue although difficulties are being experienced in every area of agriculture at present. We must compliment Commissioner MacSharry on the huge amount of work he has done to protect agriculture. As recently as this week's GATT talks he has fought to ensure that Irish people can live on the land, enjoy a reasonable quality of life and contribute to the economy. Farming, like other industries, is going through a period of change which will present major problems for many people in the industry.
The question of set-aside land must be looked at. It is strange to think that half the world cannot feed itself while we are overproducing. Surely we could grow useful crops and not crops whose surpluses accumulate into unwanted lakes or mountains.
We must ask the banks at this stage to exercise care in their dealings with firms in this particularly bad time. There is a feeling abroad that the banks are not playing their part in maintaining present jobs levels. Unfortunately, bank managers around the country have lost the power to manage their banks. All they may do is pass messages from regional offices to their customers. They are not in the business of managing banks anymore.
Over the next few months we are going to see the end of Customs and Excise barriers and that will create certain problems. It has been stated that 1,000 jobs will be lost in the Customs and Excise clearance area over the next couple of years. This is probably true and we must ensure that these employees are transferred to positions where they may protect our borders against international drug traders. There is no doubt that the international drug trade is growing, not least in Ireland. A number of people have been caught and we must compliment the Garda and the customs officers on their vigilant efforts over the past number of years to half the huge quantity of drugs coming into this country.
I hope that over the next few years we will discuss current developments in the EC and not deal with out-of-date reports, as we have in this House. We have had an opportunity to talk about current matters but not to address the current topics raised in the reports.
If we unite in Europe this country has a tremendous future. Many people say there is no future for young people in Ireland or for the unemployed. I am certain that if the Maastricht agreement is followed through in other European countries, in a very short time we will have a better Europe with good prospects for the present generation of Irish and for generations to come.