Lemass, Seán F.Wednesday, 12 December 1934 |
Dáil Éireann Debate
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Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Existing Carriers' Trucks.
It has been represented to me that certain carriers have experienced difficulty in replacing vehicles of the type and in the circumstances referred to in the question; but it is not correct to suggest...
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Unemployment Assistance.
I propose to deal with Nos. 6, 7, 8 and 9 together.
I am sure the Unemployment Appeals Committee is dealing with all appeals that come before them with all reasonable expedition.
The Unemployment Appeals Tribunal is the body that was established by the Act to deal with these appeals, and I have no function in the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Factory Guarantee.
The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative and the second and third parts do not, therefore, arise.
I have no information on the subject.
I have no power to regulate rates.
Separate question.
I fail to relate that to the question on the Order Paper.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Importation of Machinery.
I would refer the Deputy to my reply to a question addressed to me on this subject on the 30th November, 1933, to which I have nothing to add.
The answer to the Deputy's supplementary question is in the negative.
The Deputy's assumption is, as usual, incorrect.
I refer the Deputy to my reply of November 30th, 1933.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Temporary Employment Clerks
No temporary appointments to the post of employment clerk have been made. The post of employment clerk is an established post. There is, however, a temporary situation of clerical assistant in the E...
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Agricultural Statistics.
The enumeration referred to by the Deputy was not carried out in 1934 but was carried out in 1931 and in 1932. I will arrange to have a similar enumeration carried out in connection with the collecti...
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Tobacco Duty Rebate.
If the Deputy repeats this question to-morrow a reply will be available.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Balance of Trade.
I would refer the Deputy to the reply to a question which he addressed to me on the 14th June, 1934, and to the trade statistics for December, 1933. No further information is at present available.
I could not really say. In this matter I am entirely in the hands of statisticians, and the persons from whom the information is obtained from time to time.
Yes.
In Committee on Finance. - Financial Motions. Resolution No. 1—Excise.
The firm in question has not yet commenced to operate. They are at present only installing the plant and the place in which it is being installed is at Haulbowline, County Cork.
The name of the firm is “Cork Oil Wharves, Ltd.” It has been operating in Haulbowline in another capacity for some time.
I cannot say what their names are at the moment.
The development of oil refining is one of the objects which the Government has in view. On that account, various discussions have been proceeding between representatives of the Department of Industry...
The plant has not yet been erected, and I could not say when the production of petrol will commence at Cobh. So far as I know, the Company has no connection with any of the distributors here at the m...
Yes.
I did not say that would apply in the case of this Company in Haulbowline. I said it was one of the difficulties that would have to be overcome before the establishment of refineries capable of suppl...
No, I did not say that.
I said that the differentiation between the Excise and Customs duty would remain at 2d.
Not necessarily.
Not necessarily.
I said nothing of the sort.
The Resolution has precisely the same scope as the legislation which imposed a Customs duty upon imported petrol.
Yes.
I should like to make it clear, in case any misunderstanding might have been created by Deputy Dillon's remarks, that this duty is not really being imposed because of the contemplated development at H...
Great Britain. The company that is proceeding with a small refinery at Haulbowline is an external company, and it will require to be provided with a licence under the Control of Manufactures Act befo...
I do not think so. That is one of the points that have to be considered before a larger development takes place. The 2d. preference that will be enjoyed by the Cork company may permit of its selling...
No, petrol will not go up.
If it cost 1d. more to produce it here than we can import it as now, then the price would go up if we decided to increase the duty from 6d.
Yes.
We have had bigger ones.
A preposterous statement !
The petrol revenue does not go to the roads.
Of course the answer to that is that no decision has yet been made in favour of any particular set of proposals other than this small-scale development at Haulbowline. It is impossible to say, and I ...
It is a by-product of crude oil used for various processes. It is somewhat similar to petrol in chemical analysis, and certainly it is covered by the Resolution. It is covered by the existing Custom...
Not in the least. On the contrary there is reason to believe that it might facilitate the disposal of industrial alcohol and its admixture with motor fuel.
I am quite satisfied that 2d. per gallon preference is an adequate inducement to anyone.
I would not say so. A considerable amount depends on the nature of the by-products and the price at which they can be sold. The prices for those products—which are international prices—are fluctuati...
I am not satisfied of that.
It does not arise.
But the price at which it can be disposed of does arise.
The Deputy is taking one particular thing as fixed, namely, the price of petrol—the imported price of petrol. The price at which it is charged to the people distributing it here has varied in the la...
——from 3d. to 6d. a gallon.
Not altogether, but it has varied undoubtedly. At the present time, I think it is generally contended that none of the people supplying petrol to this country is making any profit out of it. At the ...
I said that the company will have to contemplate selling petrol at a somewhat lower price in order to secure an entry into the market.
I came to the conclusion that 2d. preference was necessary.
There are different estimates from different experts on this subject.
It is based on a 3,000,000-gallon plant.
To a slight extent it represents the fact that at present prices the profits of petrol refining companies importing are negligible.
The intention of the Government is to maintain a preferential of 2d.
To maintain it, unless conditions change. I think it is inevitable, if we secure development of oil refining to the extent we hope, that it will be necessary to take powers to regulate that industry,...
That will come for consideration in connection with the selling price.
The Deputy's statement shows clearly that he does not understand it.
It is a new entrant into the field.
It is not.
I did not say it was sold here at a loss.
What has their sale prices all over the world to do with it?
It is the sale price here which matters.
That is not similar to the sale prices in the world.
And the cost of distribution.
The Deputy tried his hand at it when he was Minister.
Nor have I suggested that they are selling at a loss.
That is a different thing.
In Committee on Finance. - Imposition of Duties (Confirmation of Orders) (No. 2) Bill, 1934—Committee.
On a point of order, are these remarks in order?
I advanced no theory. I stated a fact.
As the Deputy was aware.
I take it I shall be entitled to deal with this matter in my reply?
I am indeed astonished that Deputy Dillon should have the audacity to refer again to-day to the charges he made here last week. Last week he took me by surprise; he gave me no intimation of his inten...
It implied the Government was politically corrupt and gave preference to one firm that it refused to another on political grounds. The Deputy mentioned his firm and stated that they were refused lice...
You did nothing of the kind. The Deputy said that our policy was changed in consequence of the fact that he had sent me a letter stating that he was going to raise the matter in the Dáil. I am quoti...
I am referring to the letter which the Deputy described in the following words: “The Minister says there was a change of policy. Of course, there was a change of policy, but there was only a change ...
Is there a single reference in that letter to the Deputy's raising the matter in the Dáil?
The only reference to Dáil Eireann in the Deputy's letter was as follows:— “Speaking in Dáil Eireann recently you emphatically repudiated the suggestion that while traders were refused licences to imp...
And this is how the Deputy described this letter: “There was a change of policy, but there was only a change of policy after the Minister got my letter notifying him that I was going to expose him in ...
I will read it again. The only reference to Dáil Eireann was: “Speaking in Dáil Eireann recently you...” that is, the Minister—not the Deputy—“... emphatically repudiated the suggestion that while tra...
But the Deputy said that he had that letter in front of him, and that my version was not correct. That is the basis on which his case was built—imagination. It is not the first time that the Deputy h...
I defy the Deputy to produce evidence of a single case, after the date of that notification, where anybody entitled to a licence was refused such licence. I defy him to produce evidence to me of a ca...
Of course, they got licences. I stated last week that they got licences except only, in certain cases, where the quantities were abnormal.
It is necessary, of course, that each individual application should be examined on its merits and with a view to the requirements of the country. There is a whole section in my Department, staffed by...
Produce a single case.
That is not an aspect of the question at all. There was no necessity for anybody importing any of those goods to pay duty on them unless he wanted them in abnormal quantities for the purpose of fores...
I did not say that. I said there was a period during which nobody got a licence except one concern which was going to manufacture, and that concern was charged with the responsibility of importing a...
And what are we talking about?
The same thing applied to bootlaces.
There is no power to repay a duty. In any event the Deputy misses the point. Negotiations for the establishment of this factory took place with the representatives of many firms. When one particula...
Oh no.
No firm need have been hit. Normal quantities came into this country free of duty.
The Deputy has again run off on a side wind and is trying to play with what I said in order to produce an entirely wrong impression in the minds of those listening to him. Nobody in the country doin...
It has not started yet.
Not now.
No.
With regard to the question concerning the capital or the directorate of the company or similar information about companies, I take the point of view that the Legislature has decided that it is in the...
I explained earlier that during the initial period after this duty was imposed it was decided to confine free imports to the firm that was about to commence manufacturing on certain conditions arrange...
The answer is that normal quantities of these goods came in free of duty and I presume the price which would prevail for these goods would determine the market price.
It was always possible.
Yes.
The only difference was that in the earlier period he had to get them from one concern, namely, the firm nominated by us in the country, which had not previous connections with the business, and in th...
I have no information on that, obviously.
I am quite certain that here and there through the country there is an individual who has paid duty on some articles imported by him in respect of which he might have got a licence, if he applied, but...
I venture to assume that there is not a business firm in the country which has not applied at some time for a licence and does not know the procedure.
Individuals.
It could not be done. We have not power to make an article a reserved commodity after they have commenced manufacturing.
Is the Deputy referring to goods affected by this order? In relation to this order the position is that the applicants are getting licences.
I should, perhaps, make clear at the beginning that there is nothing to prevent anybody who is prepared to do so from engaging in the manufacture of these goods without getting facilities from the Dep...
Yes, it is dyed, but the dyeing can be done here.
Up to a few days ago that was the situation, but now that output has been commenced by this firm, applications for licences will be very closely scrutinised. We are now in the initial stages of produ...
I have no information. There is no means of stating, with any degree of accuracy, what is the size of the market. That information is not in anybody's possession. People going into the production of...
There would be importations for a definite period. I should imagine that most of the manufacturing firms buying stocks of buttons would do so to last 12 months. Some firms might renew their stocks ...
The Deputy wants me to tell him who is going to undertake the manufacture of these goods. I do not know. It might be the Deputy or it might be me but it is not possible for me to estimate the number...
I would not seek that information from the Dáil.
The Deputy goes on the assumption that individual firms will give me information about their business. If I approached a manufacturer in that way he would tell me to mind my own business.
I cannot.
No.
The Deputy knows quite well that I have no powers to get the information concerning an individual firm.
On the contrary, the Deputy knows quite well that I cannot, because he was responsible for the passing of the legislation which conferred these powers. He knows that I cannot get information concerni...
I cannot get it.
I get the total figures.
Quite.
The industry is not a very important one. It will give employment to some people. I do not anticipate that any rise in the price of the commodity will be necessitated as a result of the establishmen...
Advertising tape only.
A company called the Irish Driver Harris Company, which is a branch of the American Driver Harris Company, has been formed for the purpose of manufacturing electrical wiring and cables here. They hav...
I thought that what I have said would have given the Deputy the information, the only information that I have on that point, that the factory has not yet been properly established nor has the process...
I said that they were satisfied on information which they have already ascertained that the output of the factory will not be far short of that of the British factory.
I do not know.
No, because the English factory engages in the manufacture of other things besides cable.
On the production of this class of goods. They are producing other classes of goods in England.
The Deputy's knowledge of business is necessarily limited.
As a matter of fact, I have just been reading a report issued by the British Ministry of Labour concerning an experiment regarding a reduction of the hours of work in a certain industry in which they ...
If the Deputy would offer his services to them——
——they might find some outlet for his genius.
Oh, no.
The articles that are the subject of the duty are of course the classes of wire most commonly used in the wiring of houses but there are many classes that are not covered by the Order. It is not anti...
In my house the cable is a lead cable and that is not covered by this Order.
His is gas.
There is no inconvenience or uncertainty caused by this development.
No.
To the extent to which the company when established is able to supply them. The company only started production quite recently. I presume it is gradually increasing, so that at this particular time ...
No.
There will be no rise in price.
The guarantee says that under similar conditions the prices will be the same.
There may be Excise duties.
Yes, under similar conditions.
Yes.
They have that reputation. Question put: “That the words proposed to be deleted stand.” The Committee divided: Tá, 70; Níl, 43. Tá.
A number of industrial firms—soap manufacturers, margarine manufacturers and others.
The amount of employment given will be small. The industry will be a very minor industry in any circumstances, and the concern in Enniscorthy, I think, is not contemplating supplying our full require...
Organisation of the workers to ensure that the situation is set right, or else through an application under the Trade Boards Act. The industry, as I have said, is a small one, and the amount of emplo...
I think it is called the Irish Cutlery Company, or something of that kind.
No. The company itself is of Belfast origin. It is a Saorstát company and a considerable portion of the capital is of Saorstát subscription, but the people associated with the company, who had previ...
Yes.
Not so far as I am aware.
None, that I know.
Yes.
Yes, there are three as far as I know, but I am not speaking with any finality on that point. The Deputy can get all that kind of information by paying one shilling to the Registrar.
As I stated previously, the legislation of this State provides for the giving of a certain amount of information to the public and also the means by which that information can be obtained. I do not ...
The Deputy is walking on dangerous ground.
Perhaps I should explain that the term “alien” has a double significance here—either a non-national or a person who is an alien under the Aliens Act. I have no means of knowing whether any person emp...
Yes, on all.
I did not say anything about 100 people in Enniscorthy. I said that the full development of the manufacture of razor blades here would only involve about 100 persons, but that has not yet started.
The hopes are very high.
One of the instruments.
Its purpose is obvious on the face of it.
No.
I know this much about it, that there are people associated with it who have as good a claim to be called Irish people, and a much better claim upon the respect of the people of this country than the ...
The Deputy is on dangerous ground now, and I would advise him to be more careful.
The Deputy would have been well advised to have gone there first.
I cannot say that I have seen them personally, but I am sure that samples of the products of the company are available in the Department.
For the price they were of reasonably good quality. It should be remembered that the blade is a cheap blade. A much better and dearer blade can be purchased, but the blade produced in Enniscorthy is...
One penny each.
Yes.
Adjournment Debate. - Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway.
The Deputy was not on it.
I have not followed Deputy Davin's remarks sufficiently closely to be able to know whether he contemplates this particular railway line at any time in the future working on an economic basis and witho...
Nor do I think that any responsible person could make that statement in the light of the experience of past years. We gave them a subsidy last year, a subsidy which they undertook would be the last o...
What was the duress? We said: “Here is a subsidy. Use that money we are putting at your disposal to reorganise your system, to eliminate unnecessary expenses, to reduce working costs and to get the s...
The Deputy apparently does not understand the position. It would seem that his idea of the reason we gave the subsidy was to enable the company to purchase lorries.
Then why did the Deputy interject that remark? If there is any basis for his remarks here it must be a belief held by him and those for whom he speaks that the railway system can be put upon a paying...
Deputy Dillon got an opportunity to speak and he did not avail of it.
At the moment the Deputy is not entitled to speak, because I happen to be in possession. I am not saying that any question of financial assistance to the company is ruled out of consideration, but cer...
Why at the expense of the ratepayers?
Who is paying for road maintenance?
There is nothing to prevent the company deciding to-morrow to get out of the business of running that railway, and in that case the ratepayers of Co. Donegal would have reason to realise what the deci...
Written Answers. - Acreage under Crops.
I am circulating with the Official Report a table containing the statistics asked for in Numbers 30 to 37 (inclusive). Following is the table: Area under Principal Crops, 1931 to 1934.
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