Speaking yesterday evening about land policy and the White Paper. I said that the policy on land restricted farmers' second sons and daughters, members of the veterinary profession and people who have been traditionally part and parcel of the land scene in this country and people who have always enjoyed the use of certain acreages of land. I think that the new restrictions contained in the Land Bill will certainly cause a certain amount of hardship. Also, of course, it affects the three F's, the freedom of people either to sell or buy land. We do not need restrictions of this kind at the present time. There are many more urgent and pressing problems.
Taking my own constituency, if you look at the Castlecomer plateau, which is roughly the area from Castlecomer in Kilkenny up almost to the town of Athy and over to Carlow, you will find a very strong loam there — difficult, heavy soil. This soil, according to a land soil survey carried out by An Foras Talúntais some years ago, is identical in all respects to the soil found in County Leitrim. It is quite evident that the farmers in that particular area of Laois suffer the very same disadvantages as their counterparts in County Leitrim, but the great exception is that they do not get the benefit of the EEC Disadvantaged Areas Scheme.
Similarly, on the west side of my constituency in County Offaly, the farmers on the west bank of the river Shannon benefit. When you talk about the west bank you think about the Middle East, but there is a west bank to the River Shannon. The water floods to the same depth on the east bank for five months of the year and yet only the people in Galway have the advantage of the EEC Disadvantaged Areas Scheme. They have the advantage of significantly higher rates of grants. It is downright unjust that the farmers in my constituency in County Offaly are not treated in the same way and that their disadvantage is not recognised as it is on the other side of the river. It is time that this should be rectified. Again, I am not blaming the present Government because during the term of the last Government I made on a number of occasions the very same case. Unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears.
Now that farming is in a more precarious and difficult situation, I would ask the Government, in their introduction of a policy which is badly needed, to have a sympathetic look at the problems and at the operation of the disadvantaged areas scheme. As a matter of fact, in the review of the Government's White Paper on land policy the only point that has not clearly emerged in the national newspapers is the fact that this land policy proposes a 50 and 60 per cent surcharge or new tax on certain categories of people who traditionally were in the market place to buy land. In addition, it introduces a new land tax of £5 for poor law valuation. Having regard to the present state of agricultural incomes we should object to this. My own belief is that the farming community is incapable of absorbing more taxes at the present time.
It is true to say as we move towards Christmas and come to the close of this year that very many people will be glad to see the end of 1980. I believe that this has been a disastrous year for very many people. In January of 1980 there were 86,200 people registered unemployed, in February the figure rose to 86,900, in March to 88,200, in April the figure of unemployed rose to 90,600, in May to 94,300, in June it rose to 99,600, in July we had 103,400 unemployed, in August 107,000, in September 110,000, in October 115,000 and now the figure is in the region of 120,000 or 125,000. This affects every part of the country. I think it is going to take a united effort on the part of all sectors of the community to reverse that trend.
For some inexplicable reason, at least to me, it seems that people who are unemployed, or too many of the people who are unemployed, are quite complacent about it. The loss of job opportunities is not looked upon with the same fear it evoked some years ago. It is not uncommon to meet people who are distracted by the prospect of either redundancy payments or pay-related benefit and in the short term they do not object to the loss of their jobs. This is very short-sighted and it is a point that has to be corrected. The country cannot continue in the present trend where unemployment figures are rising rapidly. It is not just affecting any one particular sector of the community. There are all kinds of industries and job opportunities involved. In Laois and Offaly we have somewhere between a 7 per cent and 11 per cent industrial labour force — a very low rate — but seven or eight places of work or factories have closed in the past six months. This is most distressing. The number of opportunities for the school leavers is indeed again a very severe problem.
Looking at the economy as we move towards Christmas we have this spectre of unemployment, we have severe difficulty in finding jobs for school leavers and we have high prices. We recall the many promises but we are still left with prices that are rising. There is also the major problem of interest rates. Many people will say we should be proposing solutions. Our party have looked at the problem and we have advocated that the Government should embark on a short-term policy for agriculture which was enunciated by the leader of the party last week. It called for the abolition and refund of the resources tax, the repeal of the bovine diseases levy, the abolition of rates on agricultural land, the introduction of capital allowances for breeding stock, an interest subsidy for farmers and for the reduction of stamp duty on the transfer of agricultural property to young farmers. We believe that that package, in the short-term, will go a long way towards alleviating some of the stress, strain and hardship that the present economic difficulties are creating for the rural community.
Because of the lack of very clear and concise policies the country is just barely ticking over. Last night Senator McGuinness spoke about apathy, that young people are wondering whether studying for exams is worth while when there are not sufficient job opportunities for them. Politicians, and indeed the Government, must clearly indicate the way. There has to be a solution to the economic problems but it can only be brought about by clear, determined and brave measures by the Government. The Government are elected to rule and to govern the country. Nobody can deny that they certainly have a mandate, if you are to count the number of seats in the Dáil and yet we have not got the policies. The policy document, the manifesto on which the Government got their mandate has, I suppose, been shelved. At least the promises have not been kept. We need policies which take into account the present situation, which clearly recognise the problems of the eighties and which will enthuse a young population. A large percentage of the population will be in the younger age group. They will have new priorities of their own and they will be looking at things from a different perspective. Therefore, there must be a reordering of the priorities of the Government and this must reflect the views and the aspirations of the younger people in the community. I ask the Government, starting in the New Year, to give priority to a set of proposals that acknowledge, first of all, the grave difficulties that people find themselves in — which I hope are in the short-term — and secondly, which will give leadership to the entire population, whether they are in the private sector or in the public sector. They should encourage people to put their backs willingly into the task of getting the country moving, so that we can sustain, with a reasonable amount of comfort, our increasing population and that the infrastructures necessary to bring about that kind of Ireland will be provided without gimmicks and without the present showmanship.
There is absolutely no problem in getting one of the 30 Ministers to open a new factory or a new place of work — I know that there were not many — over the last number of months. It is more difficult to get a Minister or a Minister of State to meet a deputation from an industry or work place that is under severe difficulties. This is something that should be rectified. Instead of celebrations, the Government should take on the heavy task of supporting the work places that are in difficulties.