Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 6 Dec 1950

Vol. 39 No. 1

Control of Imports (Quota No. 37) (Amendment) Order, 1950—Motion of Approval.

Mr. M. Hayes

I move:—

That Seanad Éireann hereby approves of the undermentioned Order made under the Control of Imports Acts, 1934 and 1937:—

Control of Imports (Quota No. 37) (Amendment) Order, 1950

This motion concerns the confirmation of the Control of Imports (Amendment) Order, dealing with women's and girls' hats and caps made of felt. The Order was made on the 30th June and, therefore, under legislation requires the approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas before the expiration of six months, that is, before the 30th December.

It concerns women's hats and caps made in Galway, and the effect of the Order is to raise the exemption from 14/11 to 15/11 for these hats imported, that is to say, to prevent them from being imported except under licence if their value is less than 15/11 for customs purposes. Owing to changes in fashion since 1937, the market has declined considerably and—this refers to what we were discussing to-day— members of the Industrial Development Authority who visited the factory in Galway in the summer of this year saw that employment had dropped considerably and recommended certain changes. The Minister for Industry and Commerce agreed to these changes and made the Order on the 30th June. The effect is that the quota has been reduced from 160,000 to 100,000, which is an improvement, but this particular amendment Order raises the price of hats which may be imported from 14/11 to 15/11, being a superior limit, and the motion is the confirmation of that Order.

Professor O'Brien

I should like to make some observations as I have been asked to do so by Senator Bigger who is the chairman of the Statutory Rules and Orders Committee and who is unable to be present. If Senators will look at previous reports of the committee they will see that the practice is deplored of Departments making Orders the purpose of which is not made clear in the Order itself. We on the committee feel—and we have reported to the Seanad—that it is not fair to the public or to traders that Orders should go forth without some indication somewhere of what they refer to, and this is a specially good specimen of the type of Order that should not be made as there is no reference in its title or even in the body of the Order to the subject-matter to which it relates. It would take quite an amount of investigation of the previous Orders and Statutes—but for the explanation given to the House by Senator Hayes —to discover that what is dealt with in the Order is women's and girls' hats. I do not want to say any more beyond drawing the attention of the House to the fact that this is the type of Order to which our committee objects, and to register a protest against this type of Order being introduced as it does not contain either in its body or in its title the subject-matter to which the Order relates.

Mr. Hawkins

While I welcome the introduction of this Order because it affects a very efficient industry in Galway, I would like to have particulars from the Minister as to what results on employment the reduction of the quota will have.

Mr. M. Hayes

It is reduced from 160,000 to 100,000, from 80,000 to 50,000 in the present six months' period.

Mr. Hawkins

That would be bound to have an effect on employment.

Mr. M. Hayes

The improvement will be, of course, that they will have a market for a further 60,000 hats available to them but I do not know that it would be possible to say how much added employment that would give. The Order is based on consultation with the people in the factory and with representatives of the trade union as well, so there will be an improvement but we will have to wait and see what the exact figures are.

I should like to refer to the complaint made by Senator O'Brien. This is an old point made here by a present member of the Industrial Development Authority. Anyone interested in this would presumably go to the original Order, which does state on its face that it is concerned with women's and girls' hats and caps of felt. I am not the Minister but I do not see why an amending Order should not contain that caption also, although there are Orders which it would not be easy to summarise on their face or give a title to. I will see that this point is conveyed to the Minister.

Mr. O'Reilly

The logical thing to do would be to adjourn the confirming of the Order so that the Minister might introduce it in a different form.

Mr. M. Hayes

The Galway Senator sitting in front of Senator O'Reilly does not regard that as logic. Quite the reverse.

Question put and agreed to.

The Seanad adjourned at 9.30 p.m. until Wednesday, 13th December, 1950.