asked the Taoiseach if he is aware of the growing decline in population in the western counties owing to a lack of employment for young people; and if he is prepared to take special measures to remedy this serious situation.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Employment in Western Counties
13.
The twelve western counties are being treated by the Government as a special development region. The Government are, in this matter, working to a comprehensive programme aimed at increasing employment and income derived from agriculture, industry, tourism, forestry and fishing in the region.
The co-ordination of the planning and implementation of the various measures is being effected by the County Development Teams and to assist worthwhile projects inaugurated either by the Teams or otherwise, the Government has created the Special Regional Development Fund.
The pilot areas in these counties have recently been increased to three times their original size in order to extend the advantages of the facilities — including increased grants — available under the Pilot Area Programme. An intensive programme of land settlement and land structural reform is being carried out in these areas.
The Minister for Agriculture will very shortly put into operation an incentive bonus scheme for the benefit of small farmers who wish to develop potentially-viable holdings on a properly planned basis.
Apart from other special measures for attracting industries to the undeveloped areas, the new Small Industries Programme, initiated by the Minister for Industry and Commerce, should be of particular benefit in the present context as two of the three areas selected for its operation are in the western counties.
In order to encourage the provision of holiday accommodation in the west, Bord Fáilte have been authorised to pay higher incentive grants and to introduce a special scheme for the development of supplementary holiday accommodation.
There is an increase of almost 90 per cent in the provision in the current Volume of Estimates for Improvement Schemes in the Gaeltachts; among these is a new scheme of grants to assist skilled workers in the provision of workrooms and equipment for the purpose of their trades.
May I inquire from the Taoiseach if he is aware that industries to which he has referred such as the Bord na Móna industry in Bangor Erris and the factory in the Ballina area are threatened with closure? Is he further aware that despite all we hear about future plans the population of the West is dwindling? It is absolutely necessary to take crash measures to deal with such a situation.
Crash measures in this context would not be very valuable in the long run. The policy of the Government in approaching these tasks and problems in a co-ordinated way, on a regional basis, is the best approach and the one most likely to produce economic viability in the western areas.