I understand that Deputy Joe Walsh is resuming and has ten minutes.
Private Members' Business. - Cork Unemployment: Motion (Resumed).
The following motion was moved by Deputy Lyons on 30 April 1985:
That Dáil Éireann calls on the Government to undertake an immediate programme of action to combat the appalling unemployment situation in Cork City and County.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:—
"concerned about the level of unemployment generally, endorses the policies being pursued by the Minister and the Government to promote investment and to create the economic and financial conditions in which new employment can be created throughout the country including Cork City and County."
—(Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism.)
I should like to highlight the general neglect of Cork city and county areas in regard to the lack of job opportunities and of any kind of permanent employment in the southern part of the country. I realise this is a national problem. As usual, Cork expects to receive some kind of special treatment and, in this area, we are deserving of it.
The Cork city and county area has been haemorrhaging for some time. The sad part is that old industries and, latterly, old traditional family firms, hardware firms and general merchants have been forced to the wall. This is particularly sad because these families and their businesses went back several generations but, because of the environment in which they must now endeavour to make a living, they are being forced out of business. The Government should take action to create a better environment for industry and for the retention of jobs not alone in Cork but nationally.
I might give some idea of the scale of the problem in my area in which I have a particular interest and will have around the middle of next month. In reply to a Parliamentary Question on 13 February last the Minister for Labour indicated that there were then 458 people unemployed in Kinsale, 564 people in Bandon, 580 in Clonakilty, 371 in Dunmanway, 836 in Skibbereen, 539 in Bantry and 331 in Castletownbere. I suggest that the general environment in which industry must now operate is totally adverse and penalises management and owners of firms alike. The general effort to retain employment is rendered more difficult because of the taxation of jobs, the high levels of PRSI contributions rendering the general cost of maintaining somebody in employment for the average employer far too great. If there is an option afforded an astute manager nowadays between machinery or equipment of some kind — in particular the automated equipment now available — and labour, then every encouragement is given him to opt for the machinery. First, the firm can avail of very attractive grant aid for equipment, re-equipment or modernisation. Generally, because of the very difficult labour and work and management practices now in industry, an astute manager will find that he will have much less trouble with his equipment or machinery than he would with his labour force.
It is about time we realised that if we cannot produce goods or services comparable to those available elsewhere, we shall rapidly go out of business and, unfortunately, that is what is happening. In the matter of quality of product or of service it is a sad fact of life here today that we cannot compete, though we should be able to compete because there are sufficient pressures on us to do so. But more often than not — I know this from my contacts with people and from being in business myself — an Irish product will not have the same consistency of quality as an imported one. That applies to both products and services.
In the food area there have been a number of reports contending that our importation of food was a scandal. In this respect Cork and many other areas have tremendous job potential. One of the reasons there is so much food imported is that many of our traditional industries in this area were unable to compete because they did not keep pace with developments taking place in the market place. If Irish firms do not realise that the consumer will purchase what they want, and more and more that they want something that suits them, which has a convenience feature built into it, that if they cannot produce suitable products, suitably packaged and merchandised, then all the "Buy Irish" campaigns in the world will be of no use.
I call on the Government to examine the penalisation of the ordinary working man in terms of taxation. Despite claims that there was some alleviation of his position in this year's budget the reality is that his situation has worsened. I would request the Government to investigate the IDA operation in South Mall in Cork, giving them the personnel and resources required to get permanent jobs in the area. I realise that the Minister of State at the Department of Labour is doing what he can. I took the opportunity before of complimenting him on having introduced the enterprise allowance scheme which got people going, doing a decent day's work rather than being paid for doing nothing on the dole queues. I should like to see more of that type of imaginative thinking. I would ask him for heaven's sake to look at the overlapping quangos in some of our Government Departments who bicker with one another while people continue to go on to the dole queues, spending taxpayers' money in all directions simultaneously. There should be at least a section of the small industries grant aid division of the IDA situated in the South Mall in Cork. They should have at least one full technologist to develop the food and fishing industry; of that area.
I thank you, Sir, for having allowed me to go over my time somewhat.
On the basis that unlike many other contributors to this debate I am not from Cork, I propose to share my time with some of my colleagues.
The Minister has half an hour.
I intend to take 10 minutes and my colleagues will avail of the rest of the time.
While I cannot claim the intensity of personal experience that other Deputies can I wish them to know that those of us who are not from the Cork region share their distress and anguish in the difficulties they have faced in recent years. Having said that, it is important that this debate be put in context and that it be seen against some overall background. We should not pretend to ourselves that Cork is somehow different, that it is a black spot when the situation is different. Unemployment in Cork county is less than the national average. The situation in Cork city is more grave in that it is somewhat worse than the national average, but that is fairly typical for the larger urban areas all of which deviate upwards from the national average. If Cork city is taken in comparison with some of the larger urban areas like Limerick and Dublin, it compares favourably. I say that, not to diminish the seriousness of the situation and not in an attempt to downplay the difficult problems faced by people who through no fault of their own find themselves out of work there, but because it is necessary to say that what we are talking about is one part of a national challenge. It is neither practical nor responsible to attempt to isolate that challenge in terms of looking at a region and solving the problems there. There are only two ways in which that can be done. We can take resources from somewhere else, thereby moving the problem or we can spend more money, which means squeezing more money out of the already oversqueezed taxpayers including the taxpayers of Cork city. The experience in Cork as everywhere else has been that our excessively high rate of taxation required by the high levels of public expenditure that we require for ourselves has contributed in no small measure to the difficulties of enterprises in surviving in the present climate.
If we accept that what we are talking about is the localised presentation of a national difficulty we must accept that the response to it must be a national response. Deputy Joe Walsh in his comments addressed himself to a number of national issues, such as taxation, the role of various State agencies, the relevance of various special schemes and so on. That was a reasonable approach to take because the problems we face whether we are talking about Cork city and county or nationally will only be solved on the basis of our capacity to compete on the domestic and international market in terms of price and quality. On that there is some good news — inflation is now closer to the EC average than it has been for many years.
Our capacity to solve our problems nationally and in Cork depends on the extent to which a climate for investment can be created, on the performance of various job creation agencies such as the IDA, in future the NDC and in other parts of the country, Údarás na Gaeltachta and SFADCo, and it depends on Government policy such as the extent to which the public capital programme can be directed at labour-intensive areas. This applies on a national level and all of those helps will hopefully have the effect of creating a rising tide. It would be possible for us to stop there and say as others have said that a rising tide will lift all boats. We on this side of the House reject that philosophy because we accept that some boats were so fragile or have been so severely ruptured that for them the rising tide will be of no avail.
We have accepted that while the overall responsibility must be to try to increase the level of economic activity, there is a need to identify groups who need special support and assistance. In that context we have identified two groups who are particularly disadvantaged. One group which has only recently received attention is the long term unemployed. On the difficulties of the long term unemployed, it is worth saying that it is the case that the duration of unemployment in Cork is considerably shorter than the national average. But all of the evidence available indicates that the fact of being long term unemployed diminishes one's prospects of securing employment and that when vacancies arise one's prospects of competing successfully are minimised. The Government have introduced the social employment scheme aimed at that category who, to date were excluded from participation in the paid economy and who seemed condemned to a life of idleness through no fault of their own. We are giving them an opportunity to be reintegrated into the paid economy.
The other area of concern relates to the problems of the young, particularly those who have left the educational system without qualifications or with minimal qualifications. As Deputies will be aware a whole range of special measures have been taken by the Government in that area. I would mention the teamwork scheme operated by my Department. It may be of interest to Members to know that this year already some £965,000 has been allocated by way of grants in Cork city and county. That allows for the employment of 343 workers on 33 projects. The projects we have approved for this year will be of longer duration than those that have heretofore applied. There are a number of other applications in hand and these will be processed without delay.
In that regard, one thing that has been particularly satisfactory has been the quality and imagination of the programmes that have emerged from the Cork area. I am thinking in particular of the scheme run last year — I understand it will be run again this year — by the county board of the GAA providing worthwhile employment for young people increasing traditional skills and at the same time providing a valuable social service for the young people of Cork. I am thinking also of the quite extraordinary work of Fr. Rock who works with youngsters who might otherwise have been left aside. He has rallied to their needs and in doing so has secured the support of the Department of Labour through the teamwork scheme. The imagination shown by the voluntary sector in Cork, by the Fr. Rocks, by Ogra Corcaigh and some sporting organsiations could usefully be emulated in other parts of the world.
What about Carrigtwohill?
I am delighted to be able to say to Deputy Fitzgerald that that has spread to Cork county, including places like Carrigtwohill.
We have had 20 minutes without a single interruption.
That was a good humoured one.
That is a record.
Deputy Fitzgerald is not here that often and one can hardly blame him in the circumstances. We face a difficult situation nationally and in Cork city and county. The Government are responding to that with verve and determination and will continue to do so. They seek the support of Members of the House in their efforts.
Despite all the huffing and puffing that went on in the House last night we must all agree on one thing: that Cork has suffered worse than most places over the last number of years because of the closure of many of its traditional labour intensive industries. At least we can agree on that point. We should take it from there in a positive and constructive way. There are two different sources from which we can get figures. Those figures show that the rise in unemployment in 1984 in the Cork region was less than half that on the two previous years. The rise in unemployment was the same as the number of jobs gained in Cork. The increase in unemployment came about because of the influx of 1,400 people onto the labour market. That is the challenge that faces us in Cork.
What about the emigrants?
I did not interrupt any Member last night and Deputies opposite should keep cool tonight. The performance by the Opposition in the Chamber last night was a disgrace and if the unemployed of Cork were here they would have a thing or two to say about that performance.
The Deputy should be on this side of the House because he points to the weaknesses of the Government hour after hour and day after day.
Minister Bruton last night outlined in detail the number of jobs that went to Cork in the last 12 months and Minister Birmingham gave us details of some of the youth projects in progress in the Cork region at present. Last night we were told that the increase in VAT had an effect on the construction industry in Cork, but nobody mentioned the house grants were doubled from £1,000 to £2,000 and that the Government announced a £5,000 allocation to local authority tenants who surrendered their houses. The Opposition conveniently omitted to mention that.
I should like to outline some of the infrastructural work carried out in Cork in recent times. Two new bridges, the Custom House bridges, were opened in recent months and the Opera House bridge and the Grand Parade bridge are in the course of construction.
They were all approved in our time.
A one million gallon water reservoir in Hollyhill was provided.
Deputy Fitzgerald will have to cease interrupting.
Ongoing projects include the provision of quay walls, link roads, and a northern and southern ring road.
Those projects were approved and ready to proceed when we were in office.
Later I intend to put some questions to Deputy Fitzgerald about his activities in Europe. He should spare his breath for a few moments. Another project includes intersector sewers. In Paul Streets, Cork, a shopping centre is almost complete and that is part of the urban renewal programme. Work is about to commence on a multi-storey car park in Merchant's Quay. The Department of the Environment have allocated £8.431 million to Cork for maintenance and roadworks this year and our neighbours in Cork County Council got £11.69 million under the same heading. One of those major roads is adjacent to Cork, the Cork-Mallow road. We waited for 40 years for work to start on the that project.
The Deputy should tell us about the closure of Fords and Dunlops.
The Opposition should permit freedom of speech or otherwise we might as well sit down. Do they not wish to hear the truth?
The Deputy should tell the truth. He should give us some of the facts and we will listen to him.
I did not resort to condoms and abortion like the Opposition spokesman on industry last night.
I am going to insist on order and, if I do not get it, I will take steps to ensure that I do.
I spent all day last Friday at a conference in Cork organised by the Association of European Journalists which was addressed by many well known personalities. It was sad that Opposition Members last night did not refer to how best we can use EC resources in conjunction with local and national programmes in order to correct the problem of the industrial structure of the Cork region. We can devote our resources to small and medium sized businesses and to the job opportunities such concerns can provide. I should like to know what our MEPs are doing in Europe.
Dr. Raftery has gone very quiet. Does the Deputy know Dr. Raftery?
He is not a Member of the House. European parliamentarians must be looking at why the economic recovery is doing little to brighten the prospect of the unemployed in the rest of Europe while at the same time millions of jobs are being created in Japan and the United States. We should be asking why European economies are so inefficient in regard to job creation compared to their trading competitors. Is it because there is a lack of co-ordination at national level? Those questions should be answered. Our European parliamentarians should be addressing themselves to those problems.
A proposal I should like to make is that the State seriously consider asking State employees to go into retirement at 60 years of age. Should we be creating incentives for State employees to retire at 60 and let the jobs go to young people? Should some of the £200 million we get from the EC for youth projects be used in that area? Last night the Opposition asked us not to make a political point about the runway for Cork Airport. They made a case for the project to commence immediately. There is dishonesty in that approach. Two weeks ago we were told that Aer Rianta have not submitted a case to the Government on that proposal. I should like to congratulate Deputy Walsh on his constructive speech in which he raised a number of important issues. Some of the questions posed by him require serious answers. I congratulate him on his constructive attitude to the problem.
I should like to dispel the nation that somehow or other unemployment is the fault of the Government and that they are not doing enough about the problem. No Government will ever be able to do enough about the problem because resources will not permit them; but the Coalition, within the financial constraints, have done a great deal for Cork. They have made some notable contributions in the areas of decentralisation which many Members talk about, although we see precious few examples of decentralisation. The Government in decentralising the small industries board of the IDA set up an autonomous board in Cork to deal with small industrial development. That move proved very successful and the idea is being applied to other parts of the country. An Board Gáis, established by an earlier Coalition Government, looked like following the trend of so many other State organisations by being dragged to Dublin. It is not so long ago since there was reference to a new headquarters for An Board Gáis being acquired in Dublin. However, the Government took a practical step by appointing a Cork chairman of that concern. An Bord Gáis is now firmly established with headquarters in Cork due to the action of the Government.
The Minister for Communications has announced that the local radio headquarters will be established in Cork. With those examples I hope I have dispelled the notion that the Government are centralising everything in Dublin and not taking note of the aspirations of the regions, in particular the Cork region.
I should also like to refer to some of the other things that are happening in Cork through the direct action of the Government. Ringaskiddy has been designated for a higher level of grant and a major marketing campaign by the IDA has been conducted over the last 12 months which has led to the establishment of one major industry there and it is no secret that a number of other very serious inquiries are in the pipeline. That is the direct result of a Government decision in relation to the task force report. In addition to that, the decision to designate it a free port will have a significant effect in the marketing of Ringaskiddy. On the other hand, I urge the Government to get ahead quickly with that legislation which I must say has been promised for too long.
In relation to some new capital projects in Cork I would like to refer to the construction of a new enterprise centre at the North Mall by the IDA, the completion of a new craft centre at Shandon also by the IDA and substantial financial support to the electronics research centre at UCC, all of which will support actively an industrial infrastructure for the future of Cork. Deputy Allen has referred to infrastructure of roads, quay walls, bridges, housing, schools and other projects of that kind and I want to mention a few others. There are two new sports halls, one commencing construction in Mahon, and construction of the other will commence shortly in Carrigaline. In addition to that, an announcement was made of a major new sorting office for An Post which is at the planning stage, and a badly needed new labour exchange in Cork. A major expansion of the school of music is at the planning stage and will take place in the not too distant future.
Cork industry, not just the new industry but the old also, is revitalising itself. In particular I refer to the active support given to the revitalisation of Murphy's brewery with the international company Heineken. Beamish and Crawford have extensive expansion plans which are being aided also by the IDA. Also commendable are the progress and improvement in the older industries such as Sunbeam and the Irish Refining Company. It is not all a black picture in Cork. Of course there are problems. There will always be problems if you lose major industries like Fords and Dunlops over which no Government have any control. The new industries in the electronics and mechanicals fields such as Pfizer are revitalising themselves and expanding——
What about extra jobs?
A Deputy
They did that under Fianna Fáil.
Both Governments have supported expansion in those plants.
(Interruptions.)
If we are talking about competitiveness and expansion of industry we must leave it to the industrialists to expand in the most competitive way they can, and we support that. Of course, it does not create as many jobs as it did of old.
I would like to refer to Cork 800. Cork is helping itself there in a very practical way and the Government have supported that initiative by a grant of £300,000 to establish a new park in the centre of Cork which will make a major impact on the environment ther in the years ahead. On the question of transport, the airport is enjoying a much better performance than heretofore, and this Government will support the expansion of the airport. A ferry link is very important to the region and I will do everything I can to impress upon the Government the necessity of supporting the establishment of a ferry with private interests in 1986. There are proposals, which will be published very shortly, by private interests to develop a ferry service for 1986. A priming grant will be needed to assist and develop that ferry for the future and I will be looking to the Government for that. That is very important to the region of Cork and Kerry. Now I will defer to my colleague.
Deputy Myra Barry. She must conclude at 7.40 p.m.
Unemployment is a European problem. I will never cease to be baffled and amazed at the apparent naivety of some of the Members on the opposite side of the House.
Some of them?
Yes. I heard Deputy Lyons state here last night that Fords and all the big industries closed down in Cork because of the Coalition Government.
Leave the schoolmistress bit alone. I am not in the classroom now.
A bit of chivalry for the lady.
Tonight I heard him say that all the new factories that came to Cork since this Coalition Government came to office were approved before the Government came into office.
List them.
Who are they trying to cod? They had better make up their minds which way they want to stand. Do they want to take credit for all the approvals that existed prior to their going out of office as they made them out to be and to blame the Government for all the factory closures since they went out of office? Let us be realistic.
A Deputy
What about Whitegate?
Whitegate is fine.
(Interruptions.)
It is not a question of who kept it open. They are employing people and it is not a question of politics. It is a question of jobs for people. That is what we are here to talk about tonight.
Tell us all about it.
I congratulate the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism for ensuring a £4.6 million investment in Fermoy last week in High Voltage International. Also I thank him for ensuring by grant aid a paper factory in Bartlemy last week. It takes a while to turn the ship and the ship is turning, but I would like to make a number of concrete proposals here tonight. Midleton has problems about attracting industry because it has not got a sewerage scheme.
It will have by 20 June.
I appeal to the Minister to ensure that everything possible will be done to ensure that it has a sewerage scheme. The dockyard in Cobh closed down last year and I appeal to the Minister also to see that it will be opened as soon as possible because Cobh is badly hit by unemployment.
The IDA in Cork had very few inquiries from foreign companies in 1981 because nobody had confidence in our economy. Any foreign investor with economic common sense did not want to invest in an economy that was going down the Swanee any more than any of us would want to invest in a company that was going bankrupt. However, in 1983 there was a major increase in the number of inquiries from foreign companies and some of those inquiries have resulted in factories being established in the Cork region. I am glad to report also the reopening in Fermoy of Silver Pail Dairy Limited after their closure in recent weeks.
The tide is turning. However, we have one major problem about employment from which other countries do not suffer so badly caused by (a) the high cost of electricity and (b) the high cost of transport. I urge the Minister to ensure that the oil comes in from our coast as quickly as possible. Immediate and urgent steps should be taken to ensure that. The cost of employment is a major determinant and in this International Youth Year the Minister should make some effort to alleviate PRSI for people under 25 to ensure that they are not caught in the vicious "Catch 22" cycle where they cannot get a job because they have no experience and they have no experience because they cannot get a job.
Deputy Wallace and he must conclude at 7.55 p.m.
Listening to my colleagues on the other side of the House I began to think that there were two County Corks in Ireland, that which I come from, where all the problems are, and that which they come from, where there are no problems. What Deputy Allen and Deputy Coveney have been outlining here tonight is a fallacy. For the last year and a half at least in the local press we have read reports that the Minister notified Deputy Allen and Deputy Coveney and Deputy someone else how this thing was going to start and that thing was going to start, that many of the things they have referred to here tonight are operating. It is very unfair to be referring to these matters here tonight as if they were going to affect the unemployment situation in Cork.
Having listened to the Minister's contribution last night I was most disappointed with his response to the very serious situation both locally and nationally. This is a clear indication of the Government's lack of commitment in dealing with the problems of the nation. We have been saying for some considerable time that the economic strategy and the economic policies being pursued by the Government since they took office are the major contributory factor to the problems we face today. In three budgets we criticised the Minister and Government and said the strategy being adopted would not achieve what they said. That is where the buck stops. Since this Government came into office 44,000 people have been added to the dole queues. Tonight Government Deputies are criticising us for highlighting these facts and for standing up and saying what the people in Cork and the rest of the country have been saying for a very long time. There is total disillusionment and a lack of confidence because there is no leadership in this Government and no confidence in the Minister with responsibility to deal with these problems.
Last night the Minister reminded us that the unemployment situation in the greater Cork area had already been the subject of a special report by a high level working group. Unfortunately for us nothing has been done up to now as a result of that report. Lots of things have been said about it and I am glad Deputy Coveney admitted that there has been no action taken on it.
That is one item.
The free port is the point about which we had all the noise in Cork. Six months after the EC authorised that report nothing has been done, and I will tell the House why. It has been held over for the local elections as a political gimmick to ensure that the Government will have something to put before the people when the time comes. That is the attitude of this Government to Cork and to the problems of the country generally.
The report has not been publicised. We failed to get copies of it. Why all the secrecy? Why were the full contents not released? There are a few copies available, but we have been unable to get any. I believe that we have been saying for a long time many of the things that are in that report and that they brought home the truth to the Minister and the Government about the situation in Cork. That is why they did not release this report. The industrialists and business people in Cork are more concerned about the problems in Cork than this Government and, unfortunately, the Deputies who represent that area have failed to make any impact on the problems in the Cork region.
I believe, as do many others, that the present difficult economic situation exists today because of the policies followed by this Government. They are obsessed with eliminating the budget deficit instead of trying to eliminate the unemployment problem. Their priorities are wrong. As long as the Government adopt these monetary policies which look well on paper, they will not be concerned about the effect their policies are having on the country. Their motto seems to be that if you are unwilling or unable to find a solution to a problem, then you simply redefine the problem. In this case the elimination of the current budget deficit has replaced the elimination of unemployment as the primary aim of the Government policy.
Last evening the Minister was very critical of my colleagues for bringing this matter before the House, for expressing their serious concern and for highlighting the serious problems that exist in Cork. He accused us of being political and parochial in our attitude to today's problem of unemployment. I would like to remind him that the commercial and industrial people of Cork have spoken out repeatedly about the serious situation they are facing and appealed to the Government to treat the situation seriously but all that has fallen of deaf ears.
The Protestant and Catholic bishops of Cork have also spoken out on numerous occasions about the problems and the Government's attitude to Cork. They have spoken about the Government's lack of concern in treating those problems seriously. I am sure the Government will not accuse the bishops of being political when they speak out on behalf of the people. The Auxiliary Bishop of Cork, Most Rev. Dr. John Buckley, attended a meeting at which all political parties were represented, and some of the Deputies here tonight were present too. He spoke out about the lack of concern being shown by the Government to the problems in Cork. He indicated very clearly to 400 men and women that this Government appeared to be more concerned with social problems, such as contraception and divorce, than dealing with one of our most major problems, unemployment. The people were not looking for the things the Government were offering them. What response did the bishops get that night? The audience made it very clear who was speaking for them.
Condoms instead of jobs for the young people.
That is an irrelevant remark.
We will let the Minister know whether it is irrelevant.
It is out of place.
Last night the Minister told the Cork Deputies to be more positive, to encourage the people and to say nice things about what was happening in Cork. The Minister might think there are many good things happening in Cork, but there are even more things happening which are not so good about which he does not appear to know anything because, if he did, he would not have made that speech here last night.
The Minister said he listened to the remedies put forward by Fianna Fáil Deputies, that they would cost £115 million of taxpayers' money to remedy the problems of Cork and that that was not on. Unfortunately, it is because of the present economic policies pursued by this Government that we find ourselves in this situation and £115 million is not a great sum. He did not say that much of that £115 million would be for some of the projects which Government Deputies are now claiming credit. Last night my colleagues said many of the things that were spelled out here tonight by Deputy Allen and Deputy Coveney. The Minister's sincerity in this area has to be looked at.
The taxation system is the kernel of our problems. How many Cork deputations have come to Dublin to meet Minister after Minister? Deputy Allen referred to the benefits for the construction industry but he did not say that 53 per cent of the people who should be employed in that industry are unemployed. That was not said here tonight but it is the reality. Cork Deputies from all parties recently met the CIF and spelled out the problem, getting a very sympathetic hearing. As far as the Government are concerned, it ended there. They have taken no action in Cork. Deputy Coveney knows better than any of us how the construction industry has been affected in Cork.
The Minister says we are being negative in our attitude. What assistance is being given to service industry? When are we going to realise that it is entitled to develop and expand to the same extent as manufacturing industry? This is an area where the Minister can make a positive contribution, if he so decides. If leadership were given and incentives were made available people would respond in areas like agriculture, fisheries and food processing.
People are demoralised and disillusioned, particularly young people. Another 50,000 young people will shortly be coming out of school. What are they facing? Recently the president of the IFA was taken on a tour of the constituency to show him the way people are living. Instead of employing political gimmicks and bringing IFA people to the constituency, who can make no decisions on behalf of the people, it would be better to bring the Ministers there and let them see what is going on. They would then have much more appreciation of the realities. There is no leadership, no commitment and while this continues the country will go down the slippery slope. I appeal to the Minister to give young people hope for the future by a reversal of the current economic strategy which is doing so much damage. I wonder if we can ever recover if they do not see sense before it is too late.
I thank you for the opportunity of speaking on this very important motion concerning employment in Cork city and county. It is sad that we have had to put down such a motion because of what has happened to our city and county under this administration. When they took office a mere two-and-a-half years ago Cork had full employment but today there is a whole area of industrial wasteland. It was nice to hear Deputy Coveney, a man who has a good industrial background, speak so practically and admit many of the Government's failings. We must remember that it was under Seán Lemass that the industrial foundation was laid in the city and county of Cork. It was continued under Jack Lynch as Taoiseach. They developed our educational facilities and gave us a pool of graduates to develop our industrial wealth. The Cork Regional College has a very large number of students and turns out graduates of a high calibre every year who are looking for jobs in the area of electronics and technology. Side by side we have University College, Cork, which has a proud history of turning out some of the brightest and best professional people.
Cork county and city have a very large representation on the Government side. Tom Raftery represents us in Europe. I was listening very attentively to Deputy Allen talking about what Deputy Fitzgerald is going to bring back, but a representative from one of the Government parties must have greater influence, although I have not heard very much from him except waffle Monday after Monday in The Cork Examiner. He has been a disappointment, especially in view of the promises he made during his election campaign. We have ten Fine Gael Deputies, two Labour Deputies, two Fine Gael Senators, one Labour Senator and one Independent who has a sympathetic leaning towards the Labour Party and is proud to boast of it at times. We have a senior Fine Gael Minister who was president of the Council of Ministers in Europe in his capacity as Minister for Foreign Affairs. He has run away and gone into hiding when we have had problems in Cork. We have two Ministers of State — one in the area of food processing development in the Department of Agriculture and the other in the Department of Foreign Affairs, who would rather be jet setting around the world than looking after the affairs of his county. Now we have promise after promise as we face the local elections.
The Deputy forgot the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Donal Creed.
That makes it worse. The total number of people out of work in the city and county of Cork is in the region of 25,000. There are 13,500 in the city and 11,600 in the county. We have one-eighth of the total population of the island, in the region of 400,000 or 500,000 people. The county provides one-sixth of the total agricultural production of the island.
In the food processing industry, where over the years the IDA have spent millions of pounds, we have seen a very serious milk war between the major co-operatives. I am very disappointed at the silence of the Minister for Agriculture in this matter of national importance where jobs will be lost and farmers will suffer seriously. I call on him to take immediate steps to deal with this alarming situation. The milk processing business is our largest food industry and unless these problems are solved many jobs will be lost and diversification will be discontinued. Great progress had been made in this area and I appeal to the Minister to advise these co-operatives that it is in their own best interests to stop this war.
When Fianna Fáil left office in 1982 there were 834 people unemployed in the town of Mallow. Today that figure is in the region of 1,400, an alarming increase. The figure in Fermoy has also doubled. This has happened due to lack of Government policy. People are despondent because there is no confidence and no will to invest. Until that situation changes there will not be effective job creation. The indecisiveness of the Government must be blamed.
In Fermoy we have an industry which was developed from indigenous resources. I refer to Home Grown Timber Limited, better known as Woodfab Ireland Limited. That plant was recently threatened with closure because of the failure of the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry to make timber available at a time when further development could have been taking place. We can become exporters of timber and we have a market on our doorstep in the UK where they import 90 per cent of their timber requirements. Our forestry development is suffering under this administration. In my own constituency people working in the forestry division have told me that maintenance work is not being carried out and that storm damage is not being repaired. This will add to the problems of future development of the availability of timber because if you do not maintain the forests and remove the thinnings you will have abnormal growth and timber and trees will be of little use for processing.
I welcome the development of Beehive but I hope it is not a local election promise, as that would be very sad. We have seen many openings in the last few weeks and I hope that is not because 20 June is so near. I shudder to think what will happen after that. Cork is the gateway to the southern region and the lack of a ferry and the failure of the Government to develop Cork Airport are major constraints in the industrial development of that region. We have been told that Cork has only a 6,000 feet runway and that they need one in the region of 8,000 feet to 10,000 feet. I am aware, from meeting business people, that because of the lack of other facilities at Cork Airport it takes three days to go from Cork to Hamburg whereas, if you live in Dublin, you can do it in a day. The Government must examine that whole area and see that Cork Airport is developed to its full status if we are to get the maximum from the region and the county.
The lack of a ferry service is a major loss to the southern region, especially to Cork from the tourist point of view, the development of hotels and ancillary services which could help employment. In the past, seasonal work was provided by hoteliers but that is no longer the case. To travel to the southern region now you must come via Rosslare and it is a long journey from there to Kenmare. The journey could be cut by half if we had a ferry service.
We have heard rumours about the threatened sale of Erin Foods at Mallow. This industry was founded and built up by a Fianna Fáil administration and I appeal to the Government to make a statement regarding the position of Erin Foods. Will it be closed? Is it for sale? The Government should allay the fears of the farming community and the workers in that industry because we have been told so many different things.
We have a further scandal in relation to the closure of Irish Shipping. On the day that a Japanese supertanker came to the Shannon Estuary with coal from Columbia for the ESB power station, the Irish Rowan was being offered for sale in the South China Sea. Hong Kong ship-owners and others were involved in legal battles concerning Irish boats while ships and tugs were being brought from Glasgow to help berth a coal boat coming into Moneypoint. This is just one indication of the shortsighted policy of the Government in scrapping Irish Shipping and then letting Japanese boats draw coal and materials to this island. Every boatyard in the country has now closed down and there is nowhere to get a boat reconstructed or extended. At the same time, the Minister for Energy is running around the country talking about offshore development, licensing and so on.
I was very impressed when I got a copy this evening of the Cork Chamber of Commerce magazine. In an article, the President of the Chamber of Commerce said that he believed the statement made by the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism on 11 May 1984 regarding formal commitments to Cork and the Cork region. The President said that these commitments must be acted on fully and without undue delay if the hopes of Cork people raised by the appointment of a task force were not to be dashed. The failure to fulfil these commitments would reduce the appointment of a task force to a level of cynical political exercise designed to take the heat out of the situation pertaining in the city.
The Lord Mayor of Cork referred to a sum of £300,000 provided for a city centre car park. This is no substitute for the industries which have closed over the years. Verolme, Fords and Dunlops are all gone because of the lack of will on the part of the Government. I will be very disappointed if Deputies on the other side of the House do not vote with us tonight because I know they are ashamed and embarrassed by the Government.
I do not think there is any cause for shame or embarrassment on our part, although there is cause for concern. Unfortunately, I was not present here last night but, from what I heard and read in the newspapers concerning the debate, very few constructive ideas were put forward as to how we could resolve these problems. The problems were identified but no solutions offered. It is the duty of the Government and Opposition to find solutions but we have ignored the reasons for the major problem in Cork. It was strictly financial from the point of view of the major industries. They went where labour was cheaper; it is as simple as that. Fords and Dunlops left this country because the workforce are paid less in other parts of the world. The situation regarding Verolme Dockyard was in our own hands and something should be done about it. If there is any hope of revitalising the yard, which is extremely important because we do not have any engineering facility, the Government will have to ensure that this vital link in our industrial chain is maintained at all costs. No other industry has the capacity to provide jobs in the short term. If we even got an order for one ship, 800 jobs would be created in a matter of weeks.
Wages were at such a high level that Fords and Dunlops opted out of this country but Deputies know that the Taoiseach offered considerable enticements to the Ford Motor Company and to Dunlops to remain here. The Eagle Printing Company was Irish owned and managed and was a cornerstone of the industrial base in Cork for many years, yet it closed its doors simply because its profits were not good enough. It was not making a loss. It was actually making money but its profits were not great. How far can human greed go? They were prepared to make people redundant.
Many positive steps are being taken. I was not here last night as I was present at a meeting of Cork VEC where proposals for the setting up of the Community Training and Employment Consortium were presented to the committee who are to be involved in this area. Deputy Wallace said that some measure of the magnitude of the problem should be taken. COMTEC will do that.
Deputy Ahern referred to Whitegate. That has not been fully exploited. There is ample scope for petro-chemical industries to be developed and I hope this will be one of the items the National Development Corporation will tackle. We are not getting the maximum out of our natural gas. It is a cheap form of fuel but to go on burning it indefinitely would be foolhardy. NET has proved it can be profitable. I have no doubt that things will improve in the near future.
Everyone accepts the plight of the building industry but unfortunately we have spare capacity with many thousands of square feet of factory floor space unoccupied in Cork at present. That is regrettable. We should take a leaf out of the book of our European partners. In Denmark 90 per cent of the industrial base is native owned. In Cork there are very few firms, with the exception of The Cork Examiner and Sunbeam Wolsley, employing 400 people which are Irish owned. This is regrettable. Where is the Irish entrepreneur? Is he a mythical figure? What kind of incentives do we need to give? It has been said that at present it is very expensive to employ people. The Government will have to tackle this problem. I am very aware of this as a Government backbencher.
It is difficult for any Deputy to represent Cork at present. I share the concern expressed by my colleagues on the other side of the House but we must not lose heart. Glib remarks about contraceptives, condoms and other matters——
I qualified my remarks when I made those comments and the Deputy knows that.
I did not say I was quoting Deputy Wallace.
Suspicion haunts the guilty mind. It was not a glib remark and the Deputy knows that well.
(Interruptions.)
All Deputies attend clinics at the weekends and we know of all the people who ask us to get them a job and to make representations on their behalf.
(Interruptions.)
Deputy O'Sullivan to conclude.
I must thank my colleagues for concluding on my behalf.
The decision by the Government to abandon the Fianna Fáil decentralisation programme was a disastrous mistake for the future development of the country. This Government's lack of commitment to regional development will cost our people dearly. A recent report on the growth of Dublin by the Eastern Regional Development Organisation is frightening and the fact that by the end of the century one in three people will live in Dublin has horrific implications for our economic and social development as a nation.
In a recent paper entitled "Ireland in Economic Space" by a distinguished Corkman, Professor Leonard Wrigley, he compared decentralisation in a number of European countries and maintained that in public administration Ireland is 22 times more centralised than Switzerland and in industry it is the same. It is three times more centralised than Finland and four times more centralised in industry. As regards Denmark it is twice as centralised as regards public administration and three times as centralised in industry. These figures prove my point. Regional planning and development is now more urgent than when we entered the EC. Any decisions taken or moves made by Fianna Fáil have been shelved and abandoned by this Government. The reasons advanced are a scarcity of funds but the truth is that these decisions will prove far more costly in the long term and the real problem is lack of interest by the Government in the growth and development of the provinces.
I appreciate what the Minister said last night about the unemployment problem not being confined to Cork. I will quote some of the things he said and, along with what the Minister of State said tonight, they both appear to think that the problem in Cork is not as serious as in other parts of the country and that because of that all of us, including those Deputies on the Government benches, are wasting our time in moving a motion of this nature in the House.
Last night the Minister said:
To put some facts on the record: let me be frank about it, there has been an unacceptably large increase in unemployment in Cork in the last year due to a number of factors, the recession, the very rapid growth in the labour force and the fact that there are more people seeking jobs for the first time than there are retiring but, unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about that.
If that is not defeatism I do not know what is. The Minister went on to say:
Those people are there and we have to provide for them. I recognise that there is a very serious unemployment problem but to pretend...that this problem is in some way unique to Cork is foolish. The situation is quite the opposite. Taking the figures from February 1984 to February 1985 we see that there has been a smaller increase in unemployment in Cork than in the State generally, yet the Opposition are looking for special treatment in an area where there has been a smaller increase than in the rest of the country.
He is contradicting what the Taoiseach said a year ago. I remind the House of the urgency with which the Taoiseach went to Cork because the Chamber of Commerce dinner happened to coincide with the closure of Fords. That showed great handling by the national handlers. The Taoiseach hastened to get full value from the announcement about the task force and, having sympathised with the Cork people, he went on to say:
The Government have, as you know, established a high-level working group to advise urgently on all possibilities to create new jobs and protect existing jobs in Cork. The group have been working very intensively on the task with which they have been entrusted and have been meeting different interest groups in Cork, including representatives of this Chamber, to discuss with them the causes of existing job losses and how these might best be remedied. The report of the working group is expected within a matter of weeks and the Government will act quickly and urgently on the recommendations which they make.
I am quoting from the Taoiseach's speech as delivered at the annual dinner of the Cork Chamber of Commerce on 10 February 1984. The report was issued some months later but to my knowledge no one has seen it. What has been concealed? What is being covered up? One must ask why the report was not released.
I said I appreciated what the Minister had said about the problem not being confined to Cork. The truth is that a number of major closures there have had a traumatic impact on a city already hit hard in the construction industry and other service industries.
Last night's change of heart by the Minister from the commitments he made to Cork a year ago is disappointing. He made some commitments on 11 or 12 May in the run up to the European elections. He made high-sounding noises about 1,000 jobs for Cork. I do not blame him for the closure of Fords and Dunlops, once solid, gilt edged bastions of Cork. I do blame him for not following up with replacement jobs and for not maintaining Verolme Cork Dockyard which is 48 per cent State-owned. Last night the Minister said Cork must do it on its own. I have absolute confidence in the spirit, resilience and determination of the people of Cork to recover, but they must have confident leadership and support which this Government have not given and obviously have no intention of giving. I am fed up with task forces, working parties, teams, committees, schemes, programmes and promises. The people of Cork now want jobs.
As a matter of urgency at least part of the European Regional Fund must be channelled directly into the regions. Local authorities must benefit directly, and then we can hope for a levelling off of living standards between regions. Remember this was one of the great hopes of our entry to Europe. The reverse has been the reality. Cork, then on the crest of a wave, has been going down ever since and has now been abandoned by this Government. Ask the people who are working hard to attract industries what are the impediments in Cork for visiting industrialists. They will list the approach roads to Cork from the Dublin side, the lower river crossing, the roads from Cork city to west Cork especially beyond Bandon, the inadequacies of Cork airport, the lack of access to Kilbarry industrial estate and the benefits we could get from an extension of the gas grid throughout Munster. These are the type of programmes which should have Government support. Regional fund aid would attract the productive industrial jobs the Minister made such play with last night. These schemes would also boost a building industry on its knees in Cork at the moment. Nobody knows that better than Deputy Coveney and the indications are that, by the end of the year, it will be flat on its face.
The Minister claimed credit last night for investment in the deep water berth. The new harbour development was all Fianna Fáil's work with the exception of the last phase. All the harbour development money was provided by Fianna Fáil. Let me remind Deputies of the difficulties we had in this House and outside it in forcing the Government's hand to make the last amount of money available. It was deferred in their first budget in 1983.
Not one Cork city or county Minister or Minister of State has contributed to this debate. I welcome Deputy Creed as the only Minister of State from the area who had the courtesy to show his face in the House for a little while. Only with sheer pressure from us and the embarrassment caused to the local Minister was the final phase proceeded with and then only after an unnecessary delay. We all know infrastructural development must be proceeded with well in advance of the viable industrial jobs about which we heard so much from the Minister last night.
Regional planning and development are vital for the future development of our nation. The type of infrastructure I talk about is a necessary prerequisite to attracting viable permanent industry to replace the jobs lost and to provide the additional jobs needed for our young growing workforce.
Once again we heard a new chapter in the story of the National Development Corporation. I wish them well but I must be cynical and suspicious. This latest airing is not unrelated to the Labour Party Conference at the weekend. For once the RTE commentators agreed with me on that all day yesterday. Remember the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism stabbed the Tánaiste in the back on the eve of last year's conference and was suitably admonished. The Tánaiste told delegates at that conference: "By the time I speak to you again next year the National Development Corporation will be in operation". There is still a long way to go. There is confusion. Last night the Minister had a script which made certain references to the National Development Corporation. He refrained from delivering part of that script for some reason best known to himself, perhaps because of time constraints or some more sinister reason. I will leave it to the Minister to answer that.
This corporation has been with us in various shapes and sizes since the mid-seventies. It has been put forward as the cure for all our ills. I predict that on the eve of next year's Labour Party Conference I will be telling the House that no job has been created by the corporation. A very serious consequence of the lack of interest by this Government in the regions is the lethargy now being shown by Government administration and State board personnel. Some of our State boards made a big deal out of holding a board meeting in Cork to mark Cork's 800th anniversary. Deputy Coveney claimed great kudos for keeping a State board in Cork. I did not think that was a great achievement. Our boards should meet in Cork far more often and indeed in the other regions. This might improve the tunnel vision some people possess towards the regions.
I referred to the inadequacies of Cork airport. I appreciate that the investment needs are expensive but while waiting for those improvements - and I hope we will not have too long to wait for them - at no cost scheduled services out of Cork could be directed to connect with early morning services to the Continent. Because of the tunnel vision of a State board they cannot accommodate Cork and Shannon despite what they tell you about their trips to the Continent and what they cost.
The ferry has been mentioned. Deputy Coveney is an honest Member of the House but, with tongue in cheek, he referred ashamedly to the lack of a ferry in Cork's 800th year. This was disgraceful. A small investment in that ferry could have paid dividends throughout the Cork-Kerry tourism region. That was the greatest sin of this Government in Cork's 800th year. The fare from Cork to London is too expensive for a family visit. Rosslare is the nearest connection by sea and this journey entails a long overland drive.
We have been waiting for one year for legislation on a free port. Is this because of a malaise at Government level? I want to ask about the B & I. I understand that certain moves are being made today. A good, sound, solid Corkman worked hard, as I am sure every Member of the House would agree, as chairman of that body. I understand he has been replaced by a friend of the Minister. Jim has fixed it. On 10 February 1984 the Taoiseach said he hoped Verolme would be successful in achieving further orders not alone from the B & I line but also from the international shipping scene and that Ireland must prove itself competitive in price and in quality in the market. Now we have no Verolme. We have strange happenings in B & I. We will hear more about that in this House and elsewhere.
If the Government give us the leadership and the necessary tools in Cork — and the tools to which I refer are the infrastructural needs of the area, which are in short supply — then Cork will recover its old spirit, its resilience and its independence. Let the Government forget about their public relations exercises. We want jobs now — real jobs, not programmes or schemes, or teams, or promises.
The Deputy should have thought about that last week when he was going about his business ——
(Interruptions.)
Order, please. Deputy Sheehan must restrain himself. Item No. 24: Motion in the name of Deputy Lyons and other Fianna Fáil Cork Deputies, and amendment thereto in the name of the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism. The question is that amendment No. 1 in the name of the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism be made.
Question put.
The Dáil divided: Tá, 69; Níl 62.
Tá
- Allen, Bernard.
- Barnes, Monica.
- Barry, Myra.
- Barry, Peter.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Carey, Donal.
- Cluskey, Frank.
- Collins, Edward.
- Conlon, John F.
- Connaughton, Paul.
- Coogan, Fintan.
- Cooney, Patrick Mark.
- Cosgrave, Liam T.
- Cosgrave, Michael Joe.
- Coveney, Hugh.
- Creed, Donal.
- Crotty, Kieran.
- Crowley, Frank.
- D'Arcy, Michael.
- Deasy, Martin Austin.
- Desmond, Barry.
- Donnellan, John.
- Dowling, Dick.
- Doyle, Avril.
- Doyle, Joe.
- Dukes, Alan.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- Enright, Thomas W.
- Farrelly, John V.
- Fennell, Nuala.
- Flaherty, Mary.
- Flanagan, Oliver J.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Harte, Patrick D.
- Hegarty, Paddy.
- Hussey, Gemma.
- Begley, Michael.
- Bell, Michael.
- Bermingham, Joe.
- Birmingham, George Martin.
- Kavanagh, Liam.
- Keating, Michael.
- Kelly, John.
- Kenny, Enda.
- L'Estrange, Gerry.
- McGahon, Brendan.
- McGinley, Dinny.
- McLoughlin, Frank.
- Mitchell, Gay.
- Mitchell, Jim.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Naughten, Liam.
- Noonan, Michael. (Limerick East)
- O'Brien, Willie.
- O'Keeffe, Jim.
- O'Leary, Michael.
- O'Sullivan, Toddy.
- O'Toole, Paddy.
- Owen, Nora.
- Pattison, Séamus.
- Prendergast, Frank.
- Ryan, John.
- Shatter, Alan.
- Sheehan, Patrick Joseph.
- Skelly, Liam.
- Taylor, Mervyn.
- Taylor-Quinn, Madeline.
- Timmins, Godfrey.
- Yates, Ivan.
Níl
- Ahern, Michael.
- Andrews, David.
- Aylward, Liam.
- Barrett, Michael.
- Brady, Vincent.
- Brennan, Mattie.
- Brennan, Paudge.
- Brennan, Séamus.
- Briscoe, Ben.
- Browne, John.
- Byrne, Hugh.
- Byrne, Seán.
- Calleary, Seán.
- Conaghan, Hugh.
- Connolly, Ger.
- Coughlan, Cathal Seán.
- Cowen, Brian.
- Daly, Brendan.
- Doherty, Seán.
- Fahey, Francis.
- Fahey, Jackie.
- Faulkner, Pádraig.
- Fitzgerald, Gene.
- Fitzgerald, Liam Joseph.
- Flynn, Pádraig.
- Foley, Denis.
- Gallagher, Denis.
- Gallagher, Pat Cope.
- Geoghegan-Quinn, Máire.
- Wallace, Dan.
- Walsh, Joe.
- Walsh, Seán.
- Harney, Mary.
- Haughey, Charles J.
- Hilliard, Colm.
- Hyland, Liam.
- Kirk, Séamus.
- Kitt, Michael.
- Leonard, Jimmy.
- Leonard, Tom.
- Leyden, Terry.
- Lyons, Denis.
- McCarthy, Seán.
- McCreevy, Charlie.
- McEllistrim, Tom.
- Mac Giolla, Tomás.
- Molloy, Robert.
- Morley, P. J.
- Moynihan, Donal.
- Nolan, M. J.
- Noonan, Michael J. (Limerick West)
- O'Connell, John.
- O'Dea, William.
- O'Keeffe, Edmond.
- O'Leary, John.
- Ormonde, Donal.
- O'Rourke, Mary.
- Power, Paddy.
- Treacy, Noel.
- Tunney, Jim.
- Wilson, John P.
- Wyse, Pearse.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies G. Birmingham and Taylor; Níl, Deputies V. Brady and Browne.
Amendment declared carried.
Question "That the motion, as amended, be agreed to" put and agreed to.