asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will give a list of the jobs announced by him in the past year, distinguishing in each case between the jobs filled at the time of the announcement and those yet to be filled.
16.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Job Announcements.
12.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he has satisfied himself that announcements of new jobs by him relate solely to genuinely new jobs and do not include jobs already filled.
19.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the reason he announces jobs as new when many of them are already filled.
29.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will request the Industrial Development Authority and SFADCo to ensure that announcements of new jobs distinguish clearly between jobs yet to be filled and those that have been filled already.
34.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if his attention has been drawn to a report (details supplied) which revealed that the overwhelming majority of jobs announced by him for companies in a particular county had already been filled and that the firms in question have been inundated with calls from unemployed people who had been given false hope; and if he will arrange to avoid a repetition of this type of misleading announcement.
36.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if, in all future announcements he makes of new jobs, he will make a clear distinction between jobs already filled at the time of the announcement and jobs yet to be filled.
49.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the procedures he adopts to check all announcements of new jobs submitted to him for issue by the Industrial Development Authority to ensure that the jobs are actually new and not already filled.
51.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he has any plans to announce new jobs in the near future; and if such announcements will show only jobs that are yet to be filled.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 16, 19, 29, 34, 36, 49 and 51 together.
In announcements of industrial projects the jobs mentioned in each case refer to posts which the companies expect to fill as their projects develop. Where some of the jobs connected with a new project or expansion have been filled prior to the announcement, a reference to this fact is made in the announcement in so far as this is possible. This policy will continue in the case of future announcements.
In the past year I have made eight announcements of packages of industrial projects. In such cases I distinguished, where appropriate, between jobs already filled and those remaining to be filled. The total jobs announced were 5,840, of which 1,385 were clearly announced as having been already filled. In the case of wide-ranging announcements on small industry projects it is sometimes impractical to indicate accurately where jobs are filled on a firm-by-firm basis and this gave rise to the report referred to in the question by Deputy Barnes. The last package of international services projects which I announced on 15 November indicated in respect of each of the 38 projects involved the total number of jobs and the number already recruited,
Is the Minister aware that a report appeared recently in the local newspaper in County Meath to the effect that firms were inundated with requests from unemployed people for some of the 75 new jobs announced by the Minister, but on applying to the firms they discovered that the overwhelming majority of these jobs had already been filled? In one case the firm told the disappointed unemployed person that this announcement was five or six months old. Would the Minister agree that this kind of announcement by him brings the Industrial Development Authority and himself into poor repute and that it is important that he should only announce jobs which are genuinely new and not——
The Deputy seems to be embarking upon a speech rather than putting a relevant supplementary.
I am grateful to the Deputy for his concern about my reputation. I have made eight announcements about jobs this year. The announcements specify how many jobs have been filled. The Deputy will appreciate that at the end of a quarter one makes announcements on performance of small industry in specific regions. It can certainly happen that some of the jobs are filled.
Not most of them, surely.
Where that situation has occurred I have set out clearly and decisively in every single announcement how many jobs are already in place and how many have yet to be filled. I can do no more than that and I have no responsibility for any person who misreads it. I can understand people who hear about jobs flocking to try to get them. Jobs are still a major problem.
Is the Minister saying that the Meath Weekender actually made a misleading announcement?
I am not responsible for any reports in any media. I made the position abundantly clear in every announcement I made. The last announcement was made on 1 November and another will be made today concerning 1,200 jobs. All those jobs will not be available tomorrow or next year. They will be there over a period as the company develops. That is the reality. I do not try to hide the facts or distort them. If somebody in a local area decides to do otherwise, that is not my business.
Is it not simply the case that during the past few weeks the Minister has been rushing out announcements without bothering to check whether they are genuine, simply because he wants to make the announcements personally? Would he further agree that it has reached a ridiculous point when an announcement made by him in Cork yesterday of 134 new jobs——
I must ask the Deputy to observe the rules governing Question Time. The display of objects, newspapers or quotations is not in order.
I was not displaying it but simply holding it in my hand.
The display of it is disorderly.
The evil in this case is in the eye of the beholder. The Minister announced 134 new jobs in Bourns Electronics in Cork but when people who had read The Cork Examiner went to the firm in question to apply for the jobs they were told that, far from creating 134 new jobs, the firm had laid off 26 employees last Friday.
Deputy Bruton is trying to turn Question Time into a debate.
The Minister is not checking on the announcements he is making.
The Minister checks every single announcement and takes full responsibility for every announcement which goes out from his office. I check them individually and personally. The Deputy should check my script, not newspaper reports.
(Limerick East): Read my lips.
I know how unfortunate it is for Deputy Bruton that we have managed to turn this economy around, that small industry projects are being approved at the rate of ten a week. They are coming through the IDA pipeline so strongly that unless I bury them I have to announce them. An announcement is being made today in relation to a firm in Buncrana where 1,200 jobs are to be created. Only six months ago 500 jobs were announced in that firm. There are many more announcements to come between now and Christmas. If that upsets Deputy Bruton I am sorry. I cannot help it.
The Minister in this matter is behaving incredibly.
The Minister for phoney propaganda.
We will now deal with Priority Questions.