asked the Taoiseach whether his attention was drawn to a recent statement made by the Registrar-General for the Six County area to the effect that the natural increase in the Catholic population in the Six Counties is in part negatived by the high rate of emigration among the Catholic population in that part of Ireland; and, if so, whether he is in a position to state whether this high rate of emigration is due to religious and political discrimination on the part of the central and local administration and employers in regard to housing and employment.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Emigration from Six Counties.
I have seen a report of the statement referred to by the Deputy.
I cannot say to what extent the emigration of Nationalists from the Six Counties is due to discrimination against them, but that discrimination is exercised is, I am sorry to say, undeniable, and its undisguised purpose is to prevent the normal growth of the Nationalist population.
The evidence shows that the Nationalist minority in the Six Counties, who number more than one-third of the population of that area, are denied their just share of public appointments under both the central and local administrations and, in many cases, of industrial and commercial employment. They are also denied their just share of local authority housing. Many examples have been reported of discrimination against Nationalists by local authorities in making appointments and in allocating houses, although these houses have been built with the assistance of public funds to which the Nationalists contribute in taxes and rates on the same basis as others. These reports are particularly frequent from areas such as Tyrone, Fermanagh and Derry City, which have Nationalist majorities but in which the local authorities are, through the gerrymandering of electoral areas, controlled by the minorities.
In view of the reply, would the Taoiseach consider the extension of the Undeveloped Areas Bill to include County Fermanagh?
That is a separate question.