Lord DUNLEATHMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why it is considered necessary to create approximately 2,000 redundancies in the RAF and Navy workshops in Northern Ireland where the male unemployment rate is over 11 per cent. and when the jobs are not to be abolished in the interests of economy but rather instead to be transferred to Great Britain.
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, the closure of these units is among the many painful measures required to achieve the substantial economies in public expenditure which the Government have recently announced. Although this involves the transfer of work to units in Great Britain, it is a consequence of overall reductions which are being made in naval and RAF maintenance work.
Lord DUNLEATHMy Lords, in thanking the noble Lord for his reply, bearing in mind the fact that unemployment benefit will have to be paid to many of the workers who are made redundant, a large proportion of whom are middle aged and skilled in specialist trades for which there are few job opportunities in Northern Ireland now that Rolls-Royce, IEL and other engineering plants are closing, can I ask what Her Majesty's Government estimate will be the annual saving?
Lord WINTER BOTTOMMy Lords, the saving is in the region of £2.4 million. However, I should like to point out to the noble Lord that, inconvenient as it 1402 may be, a possibility of transfer to other similar establishments in the United Kingdom is open to these employees.
§ Lord BELSTEADMy Lords, can the noble Lord give us any idea as to the alternative methods of employment which may be open to those who are now to be unemployed?
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMNo, my Lords; that is another question. However, as I said, there is employment available for these employees in the United Kingdom as a whole. If we take simply the submarine torpedo establishment in Antrim, there would be work for some of them at Plymouth where the work is being transferred.
§ Lord BYERSMy Lords, if all these people are to be transferred or wish to transfer, where will be the saving of £2.4 million?
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, among other things, the resurfacing of the Aldergrove airfield will be necessary in three years' time if the Phantom task is to continue there.
§ Lord DERWENTMy Lords, where will these people live when they come to England?
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, those of us who are declared redundant—this is one of the problems of politicians—have to find places to live when we change our employment.
§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, the Question refers to 11 per cent. unemployment in Northern Ireland. Can the Minister say what are the new economic proposals which Her Majesty's Government are making to deal with this disastrous unemployment percentage?
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, if we talk about the purely statistical question, unemployment at St. Athan, to which the Phantom task is going, is at a higher level than at Aldergrove.
§ Lord BELSTEADMy Lords, can the noble Lord give us a figure for Antrim, which is the nearest town to which these people would normally go for employment?
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMYes, my Lords, it is 8.7 per cent. To me, that is interesting, as the Belfast unemployment 1403 rate is 6.8 per cent. and that at St. Athan is 7.8 per cent.