I would like to share my time with Deputy Kenny.
Adjournment Debate. - Industrial Development.
That is agreed.
I thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, for selecting this matter for the Adjournment debate. It gives me no great pleasure to have to raise this matter. Last August, 114 people lost their jobs in Warner's. That was the third setback the people of north Mayo experienced last year. Norsk Hydro also closed its operation in Geesala earlier this year with the loss of another 40 jobs. We had the other spectacle of Údarás training people for an American company, Mediscription Incorporated, to come into Erris last year. These people were trained, ready and able and they were told that these jobs would materialise, but they did not. That has been a devastating blow for the people of north Mayo. It was sad to see 114 people lose their jobs last August when everybody else in the country was going on their three week annual holiday. Many families, brothers and sisters, will now have to emigrate because there is no work available for them. I am calling on the Government to set up a ministerial task force.
I put down questions to the Tánaiste today asking her to meet a representative group of the workers, but she has not done that. She said that the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Deputy de Valera, will meet the workers. It is very sad that the Tánaiste will not meet the workers to allow them put their case to her. I am disappointed the Taoiseach and the Government have not responded by setting up a ministerial task force because this is probably the blackest spot in the entire country. This is the place where people see no hope.
Erris is as big as County Louth and it is outrageous that there is such unemployment. It gives me no pleasure to say that, jobwise, Údarás has failed the Gaeltacht and the people of Mayo. Its annual report of 1998 states that it created 114 jobs and lost 117. In the 1999 report it states that it created 104 jobs and lost 148. God help us when the 2000 report comes out next year because it will be a black day.
I am glad the Minister of State with responsibility for the Gaeltacht, Deputy Ó Cuív, is here tonight. He has visited Erris and has done his job as Minister. He has met the workers and all the interested groups, but what we need now is intervention by a senior Minister. We want a ministerial task force. We want to see action. We want a commitment from the Government that it will try to do something.
We also have the situation where, in the year 2004, Bellacorick will close down. There has been a gas find in north Mayo and I want to record that I, as a public representative for the county of Mayo, will fight tooth and nail to make sure the Government delivers to the people of Erris in terms of infrastructure, jobs and in every other way. This natural resource will assist the State and the people of that area who have been deprived since the foundation of the State should get their share of the national cake.
I am calling for the setting up of a ministerial task force to get Coca Cola or some other such company to invest in north Mayo. The longer this matter goes on, the more the workers will lose and they will be forced to find employment outside the area. That is bad for the schools, shops, business and the area in general. It is up to the Minister to ensure we get a commitment from the Government in relation to north Mayo.
I support the call by Deputy Ring and thank him for giving me some of his time to speak on this matter. This is an incidence of appalling neglect and failure to deliver and it is a classic case of an area falling between two departmental stools. The Minister, Deputy Ó Cuív, has been active on his brief but Údarás has always had crumbs from the table of the Industrial Development Authority. The Tánaiste has refused to deal with this issue because technically it is in a Gaeltacht area. Nothing will happen unless there is ministerial concentration and a direction to the job-finding agencies to deliver in north Mayo as a priority. As Deputy Ring pointed out, Norsk Hydro went to the wall, Warner's is closed and Bellacorick is due to go in the next few years. There is an air of devastation and of disappointment and gloom in the area. The position is not being helped by the Government's attitude and its failure to direct and concentrate political and ministerial resources in the area.
At a time when we are concentrating efforts on bringing in one of the richest gas finds in Europe, if not on a world scale, what is happening is akin to the life's blood of Erris being pumped out through that pipeline. Young men and women and young fathers and mothers want to live in this quality area and to have an opportunity to play their part, but that will not happen unless Ministers concentrate their efforts. Task forces were set up following the closures of Asahi, Betatherm and Warner's, but none of them was fruitful. Unless ministerial resources are concentrated in the area nothing will happen.
The Government seems to have broken a mould in that in the past when meetings regarding such closures took place with senior Ministers or with the Taoiseach, all Oireachtas Members representing all sides were called to them. Will the Minister of State confirm that the closures of Warner's and Norsk Hydro and the pending closure of Bellacorick, and by implication Bord na Móna, were discussed at the meeting today with the Taoiseach? Was the question of a task force discussed? Will the Minister of State indicate why other Oireachtas Members representing the people concerned are not allowed attend such meetings, why they are held in secret and discussions include one party only when the people concerned are represented across the House?
Cuireann sé áthas orm deis a bheith agam eolas a thabhairt don Teachta ar céard atá ar bun le dul i ngleic leis na fadhbanna i dtuaisceart Mhuigheo agus le réiteach a fháil ar na fadhbanna sin, ní hamháin ins an ngearr théarma ach ins an bhfad téarma freisin.
I was more than surprised to hear what Deputy Ring said. I thought I had set up a task force to address the immediate issue of alternative jobs for the workforce of Warner's factory and to deal with the longer-term issue of improving the overall infrastructure of the Erris Gaeltacht with a view to developing its potential as an industrial and service employment location. I am surprised that news did not filter through to Deputy Ring. The task force is in place. I have met the former workforce of the Warner's factory on two occasions since its closure. The Deputy should be aware that represented on the task force are Údarás na Gaeltachta, my Department,—
It is a failure.
—the IDA, IBEC, FÁS, Mayo County Council, SIPTU and the former workforce.
The terms of reference of the task force are to assess and recommend the most appropriate response to offset and compensate for the job losses arising from the closure of Warner's; to assist in the process of identifying a suitable replacement project or projects; to draw up a set of priority actions to address the infrastructural deficiencies which could hinder job creation in Belmullet and to assess the education-training needs of the workforce of Warner's (Eire) Teoranta and the labour force in general in Belmullet.
The task force commenced its work before Warner's factory closed and held its third meeting on 26 September. Assessment by FÁS and Údarás of the training needs of Warner's workers also commenced before the factory closed. The majority of the workers expressed a wish to be trained in IT. Already a course, Bridging to Information Technology, has been commenced by FÁS and is being attended by about 20 people. The course will last for eight weeks and it is hoped another group will commence a simliar course when the first one finishes. Immediately after that a further course, Certificate in Computer Applications, will commence and will provide a further step for those who have satisfactorily completed the first course. It is felt that if the unemployment problems in Belmullet are to be solved in the long-term there will be a need for intensive training in all aspects of the IT industry.
As outlined, the main focus of the task force is on training and education, employment and infrastructure. With regard to education, it would be of major benefit if third level educational courses were available in the area. It is worthy of note that 75% of the young people of Erris obtain third level education but one of the problems we face in rural Ireland is the challenge of creating employment suitable to their needs. Similar analysis of the labour force in Belmullet, Erris and the Mayo Gaeltacht reveals that a disproportionate number of people have attained only the leaving certificate or less, therefore there is a massive brain drain out of this area. That has been going on for a long time. It is being exacerbated by the job situation and we must address it. Anyone who tells me that problems can be solved in one fell swoop by waving a magic wand is wrong. The task force has contacted the NUI, Galway and the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and it is hoped to commence negotiations regarding education needs shortly.
With regard to employment, certain steps have been taken. At its September board meeting, Údarás na Gaeltachta approved assistance for a project with a job target of 22 for the locality within a year or so. Furthermore, it is hoped that a proposal for assistance for a project of a simliar size will be submitted at the October meeting of Údarás, while other projects are under negotiation. As part of the job creation drive, the task force and I have written to the Minister for Finance making the case for the location of public sector jobs in Belmullet.
Did the Minister of State get a response to that?
Not yet.
Did the Minister not talk to him?
Deputies, allow the Minister to continue without interruption.
Decisions on that have not been made. Four factories employing 20 people are better than one employing 80 because the spread of jobs, as I witnessed in my area, reduces the risk factor and allows for much greater expansion.
A profile of the area and of Warner's factory was prepared for distribution among industrialists and IDA offices abroad. A more attractive multi-coloured brochure is nearing completion and will be used in a marketing campaign to be commenced shortly. I understand that Údarás has been in contact with a number of industrialists and site visits have been organised. There is a feeling of confidence that projects will emerge from the work that has been undertaken to date. A meeting has been held with Enterprise Oil regarding the possiblity of jobs being created in the Erris area arising out of the bringing ashore of gas from the Corrib field at Poll an Tómais. There was also general discussion with Enterprise Oil regarding possible use of gas for energy purposes in the region.
Members who live in Gaeltacht areas and represent the people there, as I do, will recognise that the infrastructural needs of those areas must be addressed to ensure the viability of long-term sustainable jobs. I addressed that issue very early in my ministry. However, the infrastructural deficiencies in this area are many and include problems regarding the lack of power supply and telecommunications. The task force has been in contact with people in the ESB and Eircom and has made submissions at its last meeting regarding development of the telecommunications and electricity systems in the region. As Minister of State with responsibility for the Gaeltacht, I have been following up that issue in a more general context, as I realise roads are not the only highways and the new technology highway is of great importance.
My Department, independently of the task force and prior to the factory closure, commenced work on a strategic roads initiative for the Gaeltacht, as a lack of proper basic infrastructure has been a major problem in Gaeltacht areas. Works have commenced on a seven year programme and £0.5 million will be spent this year upgrading the spinal roads in the Erris area. That programme is due to continue for the next six years and I am in negotiation with the county council regarding programmes for the coming years of work. Quite an amount of activity is taking place, but the time constraint that applies does not permit me to cover all the work that is being carried out in this area.
I wish to make a further point. Warner's was a factory situated in the Gaeltacht. As a consequence, and until the people of Erris decide to leave the Gaeltacht, the responsibility for industrial development in that area primarily falls on my Department and Údarás na Gaeltachta. In that situation, the proper Minister to be dealing with this issue is myself under the arrangements we have in this State.
However, the IDA has a role to play and that issue is being pursued to ensure that in general terms the IDA, which is the international agency, provides the contacts for Údarás, but the primary responsibility for industrial development in the Gaeltacht areas rests with Údarás na Gaeltachta and the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands.
God help us so. I want that on the record; three years of disaster.
I point out to the Deputy, as I have pointed out before—
Are we having a debate?
—-the record-—
I point out that the Minister has gone four minutes over his time. I ask him to conclude.
I am trying to be helpful to Deputies on a point of information.
Standing Orders do not allow for more than five minutes.
In comparative terms—
The same old stuff for the last ten years.
—given the areas Údarás has to deal with, its record in Gaeltacht areas far surpasses—
The Minister of State has no interest in this.
—anything achieved by the likes of the IDA in the Gaeltacht areas.
It is a disaster.
The Dáil adjourned at 9.45 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 5 October 2000.