Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 24 Mar 1992

Vol. 417 No. 5

Written Answers. - Job Creation.

Dick Spring

Ceist:

117 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Finance if, in the light of his statement to a newspaper (details supplied) on the 10 March 1992, implying that emigration is a means by which unemployment will decrease, and furthermore that it is an acceptable alternative on which to rely, he will outline a means for decreasing unemployment which does not rely on emigration for even part of the solution; and if he will give a timetable for its implementation.

Minister for Finance (Mr. B. Ahern)

In the interview to which the Deputy refers I accepted that net emigration may recur in the future, when economic activity picks up in those countries to which Irish emigrants have traditionally gone, and which are currently in recession. To acknowledge this is not, however, to suggest that emigration is an acceptable solution to Irish unemployment. I do not consider that emigration would be a satisfactory long term solution to Irish unemployment. Rather, I believe that it would be unrealistic, in any assessment of prospective developments, to ignore the potential impact of migration on the labour force and unemployment here.

The broad thrust of the Government's strategy for expanding economic activity and employment is as set out successively in theProgramme for National Recovery, the Programme for Government and the Programme for Economic and Social Progress. That strategy is working. It has restored unemployment growth and is set, as international activity picks up, to underpin further expansion of sustainable jobs. The Government acknowledge, however, that even more rapid economic progress, and employment growth, is required having regard to prevailing high levels of unemployment and prospective increases in demand for jobs. In this context it has taken a variety of initiatives, including the Industrial Policy Review Group, the Task Force on Employment and the Tourism Task Force; and to further assist in strengthening the employment growth potential of our economy, the Government have proposed an all-party Oireachtas Committee on Employment.