Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have one final question, or rather an observation. I am concerned about the situation energy-intensive industries will find themselves in from a job retention perspective over the next year or two. I have been a long-standing proponent of the introduction and embedding into our labour market policies of a German-style short time working scheme, based along the lines of the Kurzarbeit model, that can be taken off the shelf, dusted down and used at a time of crisis. I am perpetually amazed when we are shocked there is a crisis. Our own experience will tell us that we will go through a series of crises and that we are always underprepared. One of the primary reasons the German employment numbers were maintained during the great recession, if we can call it that, was because of interventions like that.

It can be undertaken relatively inexpensively in the context of what we are going to experience in the next few months and, arguably, years. I refer to introducing a model like the German measure, micro-targeted at even subsectors of the economy which are going to be under serious pressure. Manufacturing industries across the country are laying people off this week because of enormous gas bills. They are trying to transition from a reliance on gas to using renewables over the next two years and finding it difficult to do so. There will be no just transition if this proves to be the case. It will merely be a slogan for many of these skilled workers, such as engineers, electricians, fitters and so on. Once these manufacturing industries are gone, they are gone and they will not be replaced.

I have asked the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to identify the number of jobs that may be at risk over the next period. I have not had a response yet but I expect to get it in the next few days. Once those jobs are lost they will be gone. We could end up with the hollowing out of our manufacturing base over the next two years if action is not taken. I can understand why officials and Ministers may ask why, when we have technically full employment, would we introduce a wage subsidy scheme into the market at this point. It is about retaining skills. Is there a view on that type of approach? Maybe the ESRI has a view. I think it has looked at these kinds of interventions before.