asked the Minister for Lands the number of forestry workers made redundant in each of the past six months; and the number reemployed since the recent injection of capital.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Redundant Forestry Workers.
43.
The number of men declared redundant in the months in question are as follows:—
|
September 1971 |
46 |
|
October ,, |
37 |
|
November ,, |
33 |
|
December ,, |
10 |
|
January 1972 |
7 |
|
February ,, |
1 |
|
Total: |
134 |
With regard to the second part of the Deputy's question, the restoration of the planting programme to 25,000 acres made possible the retention of men who would otherwise have had to be declared redundant. No clear figures are available for the manpower requirements of the additional work but it is estimated roughly to cover 40 men.
I take it the Minister is aware that these dismissals by the Forestry Division of his Department have created grave unemployment and have added to unemployment and—let me say on the other side of the question—that they have prevented proper thinning of the forests, to which I drew attention on a previous occasion. I cannot see why, if a sum of £20 million was made available three months ago and £50 million recently, he cannot spend a couple of thousand pounds employing men to keep the forests in good order.
We are doing the best we can.
The answer is that he did not get it.
Yes, I did.
He did not get the money.
Of course I did.
Question No. 44 postponed.