Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I did not interrupt the Deputy. I have already pointed out that we did a useful exercise this year when I commissioned Forfás to do an analysis of employment patterns and trends in both manufacturing and traded services in the past five to six years. The result of that analysis was that approximately 150,000 jobs were created in high-end manufacturing and approximately 440 in services.

I agree there has been a net loss in manufacturing but that is not unusual in developing economies. It is not unusual across the OECD where there has been a decline in terms of manufacturing jobs but an increase in services. Even though there has been a decline in manufacturing jobs, there has been an increase in productivity, value added and production. The production and value added in manufacturing continues to grow, which is a good story for Ireland. We need to get across that message. We should not use rhetoric that suggests manufacturing is in terminal decline; it is not. The nature of manufacturing is changing. That is the key issue.

Two factors will lead to unemployment in manufacturing. One is the application of technology to production and manufacturing processes, which by definition will have fewer people utilising technology, automation and so on to produce a greater number of goods. The positive aspect about Ireland is that we are developing world class capability in innovation in manufacturing. Dell Computers will say its Limerick plant is the world leader in terms of innovation in manufacturing. The people there are the people they use across the globe for the pioneering work they have done at that plant. I was in PepsiCo in Carrigaline, Cork, recently. That is a good example of high-end manufacturing at its best. That plant is a reference site worldwide for Pepsi in terms of quality. The winning of the Amgen contract and the Wyeth plant in Grange Castle are other examples that we are doing well.

There has been an increase in employment in manufacturing in pharmaceuticals, biopharma and medical devices. We have experienced a decline in textiles, office machinery and equipment, electrical machinery and computers, pulp paper and recorded media — radio, television and communication equipment. Those five sectors have experienced the largest number of job losses in the past five years but the trends are very similar to those in developed economies across the OECD. That is the reason we are driving the research and development agenda, both for indigenous enterprise and foreign direct investment. The number of research and development projects we won in the past two years has been significant, which ultimately will embed those companies in Ireland for the long haul, particularly in key areas such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biopharma. If we are in at the drug discovery level or the development of new devices, the opportunity to manufacture those given regulatory regimes is greatly enhanced.

I appeal to the House to take an informed view about what is happening in manufacturing. I am not saying there are no cost pressures or challenges because they exist. I have appealed to local authorities in that regard because many of them have the facility to levy development charges. They should use caution in the manner in which they levy charges, particularly on indigenous enterprise and foreign direct investment. There was a time in Ireland when county councils were queuing up to get inward investment into their counties and cities. They must take that on board when they are setting their commercial rate and development levies on industrial development.

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