andMr. McQuillan asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the estimated total number of new jobs likely to be created in old and new industries during (a) 1963 and (b) 1964.
31.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Employment in Industries.
30.
andMr. McQuillan asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the total number of new jobs created in industry during each of the years 1960, 1961 and 1962.
32.
andMr. McQuillan asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the total number of new jobs created in industry between 1957 and 1963 to the most recent date.
I propose, with the permission of An Ceann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 30, 31 and 32 together. Employers are not obliged to furnish periodical returns of employment to me but figures issued by the Central Statistics Office indicate an increase in employment in transportable goods industries of 20,633 in the year 1962 as compared with 1957. The increases in employment in 1960, 1961 and 1962 over the preceding year in each case were 6,829, 6,930 and 3,600 respectively.
As to the Deputies' question regarding additional industrial employment likely to be provided in the years 1963 and 1964, I would refer the Deputies to a reply given by me on 21st February, 1963, to a question concerning the estimated employment content of projects expected to come to fruition in these years. I am not in a position to furnish an estimate of the additional employment which may be provided by existing industries.
I did not quite catch the first part of the reply. Did the Minister say that the figures available from statistics suggest that 20,000 new jobs were created in 1962, over and above the number available in 1957?
That is correct—jobs in transportable goods industries.
May we take it that from 1957 to 1962, over a period of six years, the average increase has been at the rate of 3,000 new jobs per year created by this Government?
If the Deputy divides 20,000 by six, he will get roughly that figure.
The Minister referred to an answer he gave quite a while ago when he estimated that 3,000 new jobs would be created this year at maximum. The Taoiseach queried that figure recently when we asked a question about it and suggested that because old firms would also create new jobs, the figure was incorrect. Would the Minister say how we should vary the figure of 3,000 to take into consideration some of the old firms creating new jobs, in addition to the new industries?
As I said in my reply, I could not estimate the number of new jobs that may be provided by existing industries but the figure to which I referred in my previous reply was related to estimated employment content of projects coming into production for the first time in 1963 and ranged between 1,500 at the minimum and 3,700 at maximum production.
I accept that. That was the figure we gave recently and the Taoiseach queried it. In view of the fact that there are approximately 60,000, at a conservative estimate, unemployed and that there are up to 20,000 between those leaving school and leaving agriculture and another 20,000 emigrating, what proposals has the Minister for finding work for these people?
That is an entirely separate matter.
The 60,000 people on the unemployment register are people who may find employment in other spheres such as forestry.
The Minister must accept that the figure never falls below 40,000 at least. The usual figure is between seven and nine per cent. What concrete proposals has the Minister, other than the figure mentioned of 3,000, for nearly 70,000 people?
Send them off to Birmingham and London as he has done.
In 1957, the Taoiseach announced the blueprint in which he said 100,000 new jobs would be secured by Fianna Fáil, if they were put into power. Now we have the figure by the Minister that only 20,000 jobs have been made available in industry and commerce since that time. How can the Minister reconcile that with the Taoiseach's statement?
But he made that statement in Clery's Restaurant, not in this House.
(Interruptions.)
You should be ashamed of yourselves.
These matters do not arise relevantly on the question.
The Deputy should not believe Fine Gael propaganda. Deputies Groan and Grunt will not help you very much.
(Interruptions.)
Will Deputies please allow the business to proceed?
We like to remind him of Clery's Ballroom.
It would be a pity if he were not reminded of Clery's Ballroom.
It is a big drop from the 100,000 on the unemployed register in 1956.
Put your own house in order first.
We are not doing too badly.
The Deputies opposite must not have been working very hard in 1956.