asked the Minister for Labour if there is any committee attached to his Department to provide him with early information about the proposed closing down of an industry; the number of cases in which such information has been made available to him; and the action he has taken as a result of this information in each case.

There is no such committee. It is a function of the Department of Industry and Commerce to keep industry under continuous review, to identify sectors or firms which may be encountering difficulties, and to arrange assistance where possible. They are discharging this function with the co-operation of the IDA and Fóir Teoranta.

Am I correct in thinking that, if appointed, such a subcommittee or unit would have this obligation? Did the Minister not succeed in appointing one he had in his mind?

No. What the Deputy may have been thinking of is that there is a monitoring unit attached to the Department of Labour, and there is another question relating to the functions of that unit, but it does not have the function referred to in this question in regard to actual close-downs. That is not within its terms of reference. The matter of close-downs is one for the Department of Industry and Commerce and the agencies attached to that Department.

9.

asked the Minister for Labour if he had received any warning through agencies attached to his Department that a firm (name supplied) was about to close down; the action he took on this information and why he did not meet the senior executives of the firm until 16th June, 1976.

The first intimation my Department received of the decision to close down the factory in question was on the afternoon of 14th June, 1976. I immediately arranged to see the management of the company and met them on the following morning, the 15th inst.

Would the Minister not agree that he should have some such unit for this purpose?

For the purpose mentioned in the last question, that is a function for another Department. I am contemplating legislation which would give forward notice where managements intend to close down firms, but we do not have any such function as yet.

Had Fóir Teoranta or the IDA an investment in this company?

I do not know the background of State participation in the Fitzwilton Group. My identification with this matter is based on my meeting with the management after their announcement regarding the close-down of the firm. The management, in their discussions with me, related their plans of close-down to the state of the international market. I can tell the Deputy that on Friday I will, in company with the Minister for Industry and Commerce, be meeting a deputation from the unions concerned in this matter.

Can the Minister appreciate how difficult we find it to understand why he does not know, having met these people, whether there is State investment? I think these questions raised by Deputy Gibbons are valid, and I want to ask the Minister if he would approach the Minister for Industry and Commerce with a view to reviewing Fóir Teoranta involvement in companies generally, so that——

The Deputy is entering into an area which is the responsibility of another Minister.

While it may be the responsibility of another Minister, may I submit it also involves the question of employment? There have been too many close-downs already.

This is Question Time, Deputy.

Could I ask the Minister to approach the Minister for Industry and Commerce with a view to ensuring that Fóir Teoranta, when they do invest, will participate more meaningfully in a company so that the Department of Industry and Commerce or the Department of Labour will be aware of a threatened close-down?

Questions appertaining to Fóir Teoranta ought to be put down to the appropriate Minister.

A large part of the factual material in regard to the threatened close-down of this company relates to another Department with whom I am sure these questions will be raised.

10.