(Limerick East) asked the Minister for Industry and Energy if he is aware of the worsening unemployment situation in Limerick city and county; and if his Department have any plans to locate a large industrial project in the area to provide employment for workers made redundant on the completion of the Aughinish Alumina plant.

The Aughinish Alumina project is due to commence production in mid-1983 when employment will build up to 800 almost immediately.

In their Industrial Plan 1978-1982 the Industrial Development Authority, in conjunction with the Shannon Free Airport Development Company, set a total job creation target of 4,100 for Limerick city and county. Since 1978 these agencies have approved grant assistance for industrial projects in Limerick city and county which plan to provide 9,200 jobs in full production of which over 4,000 had been created by the end of 1981.

The Industrial Development Authority are continuing vigorously to promote the Limerick area for large-scale industrial investment employing their full range of incentives, which include 160 acres of land available for industrial development. In addition, the unique sheltered and deep water port facilities of the Shannon Estuary are highlighted to promoters of suitable industrial projects. SFADCo are also continuing their intensive promotion of small indigenous industry in the area.

(Limerick-East): Is the Minister aware that at peak construction over 5,000 men were employed at the Alcan site and that it is now winding down so that by early 1983 5,000 people will be looking for jobs? Is he further aware that the 700 jobs to be provided when the plant is finished are basically of a skilled nature and the people actually working on sites will not have the skills to be employed in the permanent plant? Is the Minister further aware that unemployment in Limerick city alone is now over 5,000 and in certain communities it is between 25 and 30 per cent? Can the Minister tell me of one project which either his Department or the IDA are processing at the moment which will provide even one extra job for the region?

I am aware of the winding-down operation in relation to the work-force and I understand that it will diminish to about 2,000 in December of this year. I am sure that the Deputy will agree that not all of the workforce are Limerick people. They are attracted in from other parts of the country. Nevertheless, Limerick itself has attracted many major industries in the electronics field and the area has been continually promoted by the IDA in that direction. A project for a further one is at a very advance stage of negotiation by the IDA in the Limerick city area. As I have said, the Deputy will appreciate that confidentiality must be kept until the company are ready to announce their going ahead situation. Everything possible is being done in relation to Limerick. Many of the jobs are to come on stream from the industries already existing there. Everything possible will be done in relation to Limerick city which is attracting a high degree of electronics firms.

(Limerick East): Is the Minister aware that the projected jobs in the electronics industry do not answer the needs to the people who are unemployed at the moment because they have not the skills required to work in these industries? Is he also aware that the thousands of people on the site who are becoming redundant are unskilled and semi-skilled and that they will not be eligible for employment in the Limerick city electronics factories? Are we to have a large building project somewhere in the estuary? That is what is needed for our unemployment problems at the moment. Has the Minister any views on this? What about the oil refinery, where the Minister's colleague, Deputy Colley, when Tánaiste, now reclining gracefully in the back benches by courtesy of the Minister and his friends, dug a sod in Ballylongford before the June election?

If we are to have a debate I will deal with each item——

There are five supplementaries in that question.

(Limerick East): Has the projected oil refinery advanced any further than the sod turned in the field?

The Deputy will be well aware that the construction industry was on the floor when we came into office and we provided £50 million to give it the necessary injection because it has a quick uptake in jobs in that area. Many people in the construction industry are mobile——

I have been asked five questions in one and I am not getting an opportunity to deal with them. In relation to the oil refinery that the Deputy referred to, it is not as live as it was some time ago and I will give the reasons for that. As the Deputy and the House will be aware, oil production in Saudi Arabia has been scaled down very significantly and the crude oil was coming from Saudi Arabia to make this project possible. The promoters have indicated to the IDA recently that they are not pulling out of the project but they are leaving it downstream for the moment. When we assess the oil industry and the way it is going at the moment it is easy to understand the promoters' approach in this difficult situation.

(Limerick East): I have a final supplementary. Is the Minister aware of the nature of unemployment in Limerick city where certain communities have virtually no unemployment and others have a level of unemployment of 25 to 30 per cent and that these communities usually correspond to the areas of public housing where the level of skill is low?

Of course, as a Minister and a Deputy of this House I am aware of it. I have already taken up this situation with the Minister for Social Welfare. However, I would like to see a categorised breakdown of the people who are unemployed in the various areas so that we can know exactly what type of employment is needed in an area. At the moment they are all lumped together, as the Deputy, I and everyone else knows. We need to have them categorised and to section them out so that we can see what industries are required in particular areas and to try to respond to the needs of the various areas. I am also aware that training will play a more important part in the future and that the nature of the job in any worker's lifetime will have to change a couple of times and additional training facilities will have to be planned for in the future to try to alleviate some of the problems the Deputy has talked about.

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