I am pleased to hear the statement from the Minister, that the Stationery Office is actually interesting itself in the production and use of Irish made paper for commercial purposes. I am sure the office can by its own activities do a great deal to provide such standardisation as is necessary, and that that will lead to a great deal of activity in Irish paper production.
I want to make a plea again, as I did last year, for a reduction in the prices of official publications, beginning with the reports of the Dáil and Seanad debates. I think in respect to the publications which are necessarily printed, and the cost undertaken, that where there is to be any sale, such publications should be sold at prices covering the cost of the extra paper and machining. I do not know what principle has been adopted with regard to prices of Government publications, but, I believe it is very desirable that the greatest amount of public interest should be created in official publications, and that they should be priced at a figure which would encourage rather than repel purchase. Going through official publications one would imagine that it was the intention to make them prohibitive to the ordinary purchaser; that it was undesirable the public should see what is in them; that, though, you have to print them you would rather not, and, therefore, you make the price as high as possible. That is a bad policy and is not calculated to encourage the public to take an active interest in the details of public affairs. There has been some improvement. I do not think the improvement has gone far enough. It is not perhaps possible for the Minister to give us a detailed statement regarding the effect of the reduced prices on sales. I believe that the lower the price is the better; and that we ought to aim at covering the cost of the extra printing rather than making any profit; and aim at the widest possible publication and sale of such documents.
I think also that other methods should be adopted in regard to the sale of State publications. The official agents are I think Messrs. Eason & Sons of Dublin, and other places. I do not think they use their machinery in the country for the purpose of pushing the sale of official documents.
They may say: "It is not profitable to us and we cannot afford to do that. These things if not sold are not returnable and we are not going to have a risk. We are there to supply what is ordered." That is not satisfactory, especially in view of the fact that there is really no attempt at intelligent discrimination in setting out the official publications in Messrs. Eason's shops.
There is nobody there to explain what the things are, or to guide or to assist the purchasers in selection. There is no such thing as a librarian who understands these publications. They are kept in the cellar and although there are a few shown in the windows the whole set-out indicates the absence of push, and these official publications are looked upon as something quite subordinate to the sale of daily newspapers. I think that the whole policy should be recast and that it would be a great advantage for the creation of an intelligent public interest if the Stationery Office itself set up an establishment for the sale of Irish official publications and other official publications. It would be worth while losing a considerable sum of money on such a project, although I do not think there need be very much loss after the first year or two. I suggest to the Ministry, for their very careful consideration, that they should aim at as wide a circulation as possible of official publications, and that there should be first a reduction of price, and secondly, a new policy with regard to salesmanship.
