asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he is now in a position to indicate when the report of the Commission on Emigration will be made available and if, in view of the increase in the number of unemployed, he will take steps to bring this report before the Dáil without delay.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Commission on Emigration.
I cannot state precisely when the report of the Commission on Emigration and Other Population Problems will be made available, but, as I indicated in a reply which I gave in December last, I am hopeful that the members of the commission will succeed in their aim to complete their inquiry by the summer.
If you do not hurry up they will be all gone.
You did not do much.
The Deputy's Government had 16 years to do it.
Is that the only reply?
Did not the Minister indicate, when establishing the commission, that he hoped they would be able to report within three months? Will he say whether any exceptional causes for delay have arisen?
Firstly, I made no such statement as that alleged by the Deputy. His fount of information on that matter is fantastic. Secondly, the members of the commission are not paid by the State. They are not on the pay roll of my Department. They are eminent and busy citizens, and I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that an approach on this matter has got to be a tactful approach. I cannot instruct the members to finish by a certain date. Any attempt by me to do so would have consequences which, I feel sure, ought to be obvious to the Deputy. I am as anxious as the Deputy to get the report as quickly as I can, and I am sure that the members of the commission, who have many other interests, are anxious to complete this task with the utmost expedition.
Is the Minister aware that the members of the commission themselves expected to be able to report last year, and can he say what has happened to prevent them from realising their aim?
I do not know who gave that information.
A member of the commission.
Well, a member of the commission does not represent the whole commission. I have no such information at my disposal. I am not aware that the commission, either generally or unanimously, expressed any such opinion.
Did the Minister realise, when establishing the commission, that it would take more than a year to issue a report?
I realise this and the Deputy and his Party might as well have the information — that the Deputy's Government contemplated doing this thing last year but ran away from setting up the commission when a general election was imminent. Is that denied?
Will the Minister agree that if the work was done over-hastily the report might be referred to as a clumsy report?
A slovenly report.
Does the Minister realise that this is a matter of urgency and that the Government cannot shelve their responsibility by setting up a commission and leaving that commission to sit on it for years?
It was urgent for 16 years.
To clean up your mess is an urgent business. That is true.
You are leaving yourselves without any responsibility.
This is so important that the Deputy should not be trying to make Party political capital out of it.
It is more important than the Minister for Industry and Commerce seems to realise. The youth are leaving the country.
Now, we have the stuff for the Dáil Report.