asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he is aware that a firm of Belgian contractors is executing a contract on premises for a new hat factory at Castlebar; that the firm is employing Belgian carpenters on work for which Irish carpenters are available; whether he granted permission to the firm to employ foreign craftsmen whilst Irish craftsmen were available for this work; and whether he now proposes to take steps to ensure that Irish operatives will be engaged to execute the work.
Ceisteanna-Questions. Oral Answers. - Castlebar Hat Factory.
I am aware that at present a firm of Belgian contractors acting through local sub-contractors is erecting premises for a new hat factory at Castlebar. The factory building will be of a type altogether new in this country and demands in its construction the employment of highly specialised processes which could not be undertaken by Irish nationals without a certain amount of training. Permits have, accordingly, been issued for the employment of five Belgian workers who are highly specialised in the type of work involved. The permits remain valid only for so long as nationals qualified to undertake the duties carried out by the aliens are not available. At present five Irish nationals are being trained and the number will increase according as the work progresses. The work which so far consists in the erection and roofing of the shell of the building has only recently commenced and none of the work at present being done can properly be called carpentry work; so far as it involves wood-work it could not be done by ordinary carpenters without previous training by way of demonstration. The building has not yet reached the stage at which the carpentry work which will be done by Irish carpenters exclusively can commence.
Is the Minister aware of the fact that the two Belgian carpenters in the present instance are merely erecting wooden casing to hold mass concrete which is being erected on the Hennebique system? Is he further aware of the fact that Irish craftsmen have already executed work of that kind, and that the union catering for those craftsmen has indicated to the Minister's Department that they can provide craftsmen capable of doing the work which the Belgian carpenters are at present doing in Castlebar. In those circumstances will he reconsider the position, so as to ensure that they are not employed on work for which Irish craftsmen are available?
The matter was fully considered before the permit to employ those men was issued.
Will the Minister reconsider the matter in view of the fact that the union catering for carpenters are in a position to demonstrate that the work can be done by Irish craftsmen, or are Belgians to be employed whether Irishmen are available or not?
The Deputy is not aware of the circumstances.
The Deputy is aware of the circumstances. I wish the Minister knew half as much about them.