Vol. 253 No. 12
asked the Taoiseach if he will state in respect of the years ended 31st March, 1956 and 31st March, 1971 (a) the total number of people at work in Ireland, (b) the percentage reduction over the period and (c) the reasons for the reduction; and what further action the Government intend to take to provide work for Irish people in Ireland.
4.
asked the Taoiseach if he will state in respect of April, 1956 and 1971 the numbers of people at work.
With your permission, Sir, I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 4 together.
The total number of people at work was 1,125,000 at mid-April, 1956 and 1,066,000 at mid-April, 1970, the latest date for which figures are available. The percentage reduction between 1956 and 1970 was 5.2, or an average annual reduction of 0.4 per cent. A major factor in the reduction has been the fall of about 139,000 in the numbers engaged in agriculture which more than offset the increase of about 80,000 in the number of new jobs created in the other sectors of the economy. The fall of 59,000 over the 14 years was made up of a fall of 41,000 in the year 1956-57 and a further fall averaging 7,900 a year up to 1961. Since then there has been an increase averaging 1,500 a year.
In regard to the final part of the Deputy's question, I would refer him to a statement I made on this issue in reply to a question from Deputies Harte and Timmins on the 9th February, 1971.
Are not the bare facts now that there are 60,000 fewer people at work in Ireland than there were in 1957 when Fianna Fáil last took office, despite exhortations that were made to judge the Government on their records in regard to providing employment for our own people in our own country? Further, is it not true that the Government's action at the present time seems to result in more being provided but fewer people at work? If we had not the safety valve of emigration to England at the present time what would happen to those people? Are there any proper plans to give work to our own people at home in Ireland?
Of the 60,000 reduction mentioned by the Deputy, in one year when the Deputy's party was in power two-thirds of that number were out of work in one year alone.
That is bunkum. That is a deliberate lie and a deliberate falsehood. I have seen the figures: I have read them.
I will give the Deputy another figure if he wants to prove it.
Before the Taoiseach intervenes the Deputy used the expression "deliberate lie" which is not in order.
I shall withdraw it. The figures are completely misleading and the Taoiseach knows it. There are 10,000 people alone leaving the land of Ireland every year and 10,000 people alone lost their jobs in factories and in industry last year. The Taoiseach knows that and he is keeping it back from the Irish people. There are factories on short time at the present time due to your inflationary policies and you are doing nothing about it. You are sitting idly by and you are doing nothing about it. You are not man enough to take action within your own party for the good of the country.
I am calling Question No. 5.
I should like to refer the Deputy to Deputy Garret FitzGerald's assessment of the reason for the reduction in jobs. In the first instance I want to remind the Deputy of the last part of my answer: that there has been an average increase of 1,500 a year in jobs in this country since 1961. Secondly, in so far as the reduction in employment recently is concerned, Deputy FitzGerald in a recent article in the Irish Times said there was a reduction of about, I think, 8,000 industrial jobs since 1967 which he said was only marginally attributable to free trade operations but which was mainly attributable——
We do not all agree with that.
I know but this is for the benefit of Deputy L'Estrange who might agree with it. About 5,000 to 6,000 jobs he said were due to the wages policy that was being followed, that too many of us were grabbing too much for ourselves at the expense of jobs for other people.
That is quite true. You are grabbing everything for yourselves.
Deputy FitzGerald put it in its proper perspective for Deputy L'Estrange. Perhaps I will quote what he said.
Too few of you are grabbing too much.
I grant the Taoiseach the copyright to read it.
He said the figures give some indication of the scale of the problem created by the determination of those of us in employment in Ireland to grab as much as we can of the national cake even at the expense of squeezing out many thousands of our fellow country men and forcing them to emigrate so that the rest of us can be marginally the better off. This particular form of national selfishness is probably the biggest single obstacle to the achievement of something approaching full employment.
Your inflationary policy brought that about.
Is it not true that there are 70,000 unemployed at the present time?
Would it be in order for the Taoiseach to read the whole article?
I am calling Question No. 5.
