Mr Harold McCusker: I am not disputing that. It might be difficult, but it will be done. I am disputing the necessity for it. I worked for two years in the personnel department of a large industrial establishment in Craigavon, and 25 people were employed in my department. When the sectarian violence broke out in 1970 in Lurgan, a girl came to me in the office and said "I am glad that you are a Catholic—that...
Mr Harold McCusker: I do not dispute that, as I said earlier. But in Northern Ireland we have had an industrial relations record twice as good as any in Great Britain in a period when the sectarian conflict might have been expected to exacerbate industrial relations problems, with a member of one religious persuasion arguing with someone belonging to the other about problems in their street and with that...
Mr Harold McCusker: I hope that the Government are now prepared to subsidise employers to ensure that they advertise widely enough. I appreciate the right hon. Gentleman's point. I know that the Government and public bodies advertise across the board in various papers. Last week in the Irish News one page was filled completely with public appointments. Another page was filled completely with comments about Mr....
Mr Harold McCusker: I do not know what relevance that has to my comments.
Mr Harold McCusker: I was querying whether an employer could ultimately afford to advertise in every paper and whether all employers would feel it necessary to advertise in a paper which, on the admission even of the Republican clubs, now allows its columns to be used for very dubious purposes. Anyway, let us say that I advertise in every paper in Northern Ireland and that I am looking to try to remedy the...
Mr Harold McCusker: I do not know why. I am advertising for employees. I will argue that if those same Catholics were the men who alleged that I was guilty of discrimination they would be more keen to apply so that they had grounds for their argument. But I do not get any applicants. Even if I have signed the declaration and want a change, I do not get applicants. What do I do? There is not very much that I can...
Mr Harold McCusker: We are opposed to anything which draws conclusions from purely statistical information and tries to remedy an almost abstract situation. We would support easier access to the courts where there was an individual case of discrimination to be met. We would advocate an extension of the office of the Commissioner of Complaints in order to bring it down to the grass roots level. Let us give him an...
Mr Harold McCusker: Will the hon. Gentleman give the source of his information about Fermanagh County Council? I can produce evidence to contradict what he has said. Does he not accept my point that there are examples of unbalanced work forces where the lack of balance has been created by factors other than the malignant desire to discriminate?
Mr Harold McCusker: First, I did not deny that religious discrimination probably exists to some degree in Northern Ireland. What was quoted to us was that there was a widespread belief—I think they were the words—that religious discrimination was practised in Northern Ireland. The suggestion was that religious discrimination was practised in a widespread fashion there. Is the hon. Gentleman really suggesting...
Mr Harold McCusker: It is different.
Mr Harold McCusker: We said we support the objectives of the Bill. We would favour providing for individual complaints of discrimination by making access to the courts easier or by developing the structure of the Ombudsman.
Mr Harold McCusker: Was the Secretary of State consulted regarding the visit, this weekend, of the all-party deputation to the Republic led by the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence? As these deputations are normally taken on a tour of the border, which always seems to show up our security forces in a bad light—as was made clear by the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr....
Mr Harold McCusker: asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the number of houses built by the Housing Executive in 1975.
Mr Harold McCusker: Will the Minister confirm that that is the lowest total of houses built in Northern Ireland for over 20 years and is a condemnation of the Housing Executive? In view of the fact that it has already been shown that three times that number of houses can be built in Northern Ireland, what, precisely, will the hon. Gentleman do to achieve that target?
Mr Harold McCusker: How many jobs does the Minister hope to generate in the manufacturing sector of Northern Ireland during 1976?
Mr Harold McCusker: Will the Secretary of State bear in mind that many people in Northern Ireland will welcome his assertion that we are in for a period of positive and not negative rule? I think that that is what the right hon. Gentleman said. Will he confirm that it is more likely to be benign as distinct from malign, as has been suggested by many parties in Northern Ireland? Will the right hon. Gentleman...
Mr Harold McCusker: As the Minister indicated, I intend to confine my remarks to the expenditure under Class IV, which relates to education. I ask hon. Members to cast their minds back 15 months when we witnessed here something that worried most hon. Members who represent Northern Ireland constituencies. At that time we passed a Youth Employment Service Order which, in effect, disbanded the Youth Employment...
Mr Harold McCusker: Is the right hon. Gentleman in a position to tell us the level of applications for work permits in Northern Ireland?
Mr Harold McCusker: asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when it is hoped to start rebuilding Lurgan RUC Station.
Mr Harold McCusker: Is the hon. Gentleman aware that Lurgan police station was perfectly positioned to command the flashpoint area of the town and to protect both the business community and the minority Protestant community, which lives in northern Lurgan? Is he further aware of the bitterness in the town at the delay of three years in commencing to build the police station? Will he do all in his power to reduce...
