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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 6 Jul 1927

Vol. 20 No. 6

ORDUITHE AN LAE. ORDERS OF THE DAY. - VOTE 22—STATIONERY OFFICE.

I move:—

Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £87,289 chun slánuithe na suime is gá chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1928, chun Páipéarachais, Clódóireachta, Páipéir, Greamuíochta agus Leabhra Clóbhuailte i gcóir na Seirbhíse Puiblí, chun Tuarastail agus Costaisí Oifig an tSoláthair agus chun Ilsheirbhísí Ilghnéitheacha mar aon le Tuaraiscí Díospóireachtaí an Oireachtais.

That a sum not exceeding £87,289 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1928, for Stationery, Printing, Paper, Binding, and Printed Books for the Public Service; for the Salaries and Expenses of the Stationery Office; and for Sundry Miscellaneous Services, including Reports of the Oireachtas Debates.

The most remarkable thing in connection with this Vote is the fact that it shows a reduction of £18,036 on the previous year. That, I think, is an indication of the efficiency with which this Department is run. There has, in fact, been a continual reduction in this Vote since the year 1924-25. The Estimate for the year 1924-25 was £187,029; in 1925-26 it was £170,385; in 1926-27 it was £155,325, and this year it is £137,289, showing over that period a reduction of about £50,000, which is very considerable and which reflects credit on the way in which the Department has been conducted during that time. The other point to which I may call attention is the fact that the Department made a great effort to encourage Irish manufacture, and it has been very successful in that effort. For a long time the Department availed, to a great extent, of the products of the Saggart mills, but unfortunately these mills are now closed and there is no alternative source of supply. At present it is impossible to purchase Irish paper with the exception of brown wrapping paper, satisfactory supplies of which at favourable prices have recently been procured from home sources.

It is hoped in the near future that the Saggart mills will again be opened and the Department will avail to the fullest extent of their products. Meanwhile, the Department has availed to a very great extent of supplies of other kinds of stationery materials and every avenue for the development of Irish stationery is being explored.

This Department at present obtains exclusively from Irish manufacturers its total supplies of: Writing and fountain pen inks; leather goods such as gusset bags, attaché cases, etc.; gum and office paste (with the exception of small supplies of specialised articles such as glucine); cords and twine for wrapping purposes; rubber stamps; ink-stands—wooden; ink baskets; wooden rulers; metal filing boxes; metal cash boxes; metal deed boxes; metal damping tins; pocket diaries; wood and cord folio boxes; canvas bags; and metal seals.

The expenditure in Ireland in printing and binding and envelopes amounted to £88,631 in 1926-27. It is important to note that £58,577 of this amount represents the estimated payment to those actually employed such as printers, bookbinders, and so forth. I thought it well to call attention to this fact, as I think it is not generally known that we are availing of Irish manufactured articles to such a large extent in this Department.

I intervene in this debate only to congratulate the Parliamentary Secretary on what I think I may call a model Estimate. On almost every sub-head there are reductions, and on those in which there are increases Deputies who observe closely will see that they are in the nature of capital expenditure, that they are increases for the purpose of buying trucks, scales, carriage of stores, typewriters, duplicators, etc. We may hope that they will not recur in future years. On the whole, there is a general reduction, and I think we may congratulate the Stationery Office in hoping to persuade the public to buy more of the debates of the Oireachtas for the forthcoming year than in the present year. Old Deputies who have observed the Estimates for this Office will, I think, agree with me when I say that there has been a steady reduction in expenditure, and also a steady increase in efficiency; that all the functions of the Stationery Office have been well done, and that it provides an example perhaps other Departments might profit by.

With regard to what the Parliamentary Secretary said about the closing of the Clondalkin Paper Mill, I would urge on him, even if it is necessary to guarantee a certain consumption of paper to those mills, to try and give the employment in my constituency that is very badly needed. The paper was good. There are prospects, I think, of a loan under the Trades Loan Guarantee Act, and if the Stationery Office could give some undertaking to take an amount of paper for a reasonable period, say, two or three years, it might very much facilitate the re-opening of these mills. If the paper is not good, if it is dearer than could be bought elsewhere, I do not ask the Parliamentary Secretary to do it, but if it is as good paper as you could get elsewhere then I think you should give preference to the Saorstát, and give an undertaking to use that paper in the public service. As even new Deputies know, the Dáil consumes an enormous amount of paper. I believe we would prefer to use the paper produced in our own country. I urge on the Minister if there are negotiations, and if some reasonable continuity of demand is required, that the Stationery Office should give that continuity of demand, not without conditions, not without satisfying itself that the paper can be obtained at a reasonable price, but under these conditions it ought to try and help an industry that is capable of giving considerable employment.

I am glad to be able to say that my experience of this Department has been that it has endeavoured at all times to give the greatest support possible to Irish products. I regret that Deputy Cooper was a little astray when he spoke of the Clondalkin mill. I think the Parliamentary Secretary referred to the Saggart mill, which is smaller, and yet quite an important undertaking. I hope he will be able to give us a little more confidence in his expectation that the Saggart mill may be reopened, and perhaps he might go even a little further and tell us what the expectations are with regard to the Clondalkin mill. It might be used, to some degree at any rate, for the printing of paper required by this Department. I know that the Department has been interested in both of these mills. Though it may be a little bit wide of the mark, perhaps the Parliamentary Secretary could help the House by stating whether there is any possibility of the Clondalkin mill as well as the Saggart mill being reopened. The figure the Parliamentary Secretary has given regarding the purchase of Irish manufactured goods, and the work of printing, is satisfactory, but it would be greatly increased for the future by the re-opening of these mills. I know the Secretary will help as far as it is in his power, by setting standards, and perhaps promoting the use throughout of certain standardised shapes, sizes, patterns and quality of papers. That would make the work of the factory very much more successful than it has been in the past. I think the Stationery Office could do a considerable amount in that direction.

I should like to join with the two Deputies who have just spoken in a plea to the Ministry to endeavour to do something to give employment by the production of Irish paper. Digressing, if I might for a moment, when discussing the insurance problem the other day I did not find myself in complete agreement with my friends on the other side of the House, but on the point now at issue I find myself in complete harmony. There can be no doubt that the really pressing need at the moment is to find work for the workless. I think it is a most regrettable state of affairs, considering the quantity of paper we are using and the quantity of paper that necessarily we are importing, that we are able to obtain no home manufactured paper except brown paper. I think the suggestion put forward by Deputy Cooper merits very sympathetic consideration. I do not think it would really amount to much if the Stationery Department had to pay even a somewhat higher price for supplies. I have no doubt that if Deputy Cooper's suggestion could be agreed to, that is, to undertake to take a reasonable amount from the Saggart mills, and also to give continuity of demand, that it would not be losing money but, on the contrary, gaining it.

Deputy Cooper made one proviso. He said he would not ask the Minister to do this if he were informed that the paper was not good. My colleague on my right informs me that he has obtained paper from this mill and that its quality is unequalled. I say that Deputy Cooper's suggestion should receive very sympathetic consideration from the Minister when he is arranging for the buying of paper.

I am grateful to those Deputies who have corrected me for my omission of the Saggart mills. I carried a pad of Saggart paper around the world with me. I wrote many letters on it in Australia, and it seemed to me to be equal, and even superior, to the paper of Australia. I would certainly include Saggart with Clondalkin, and I would also include other mills in the Saorstát, if there are other mills that can produce the kind of paper that is required. My views are not confined to mills in my constituency; I think we should use all the Irish paper possible, to try to give employment.

Mr. WOLFE

In regard to what has been said about the Saggart paper, I can testify to its uniform excellence, because for over twenty years I have used nothing else in my house and it is excellent in every way.

I think the high tributes that have been paid to the paper of these mills are borne out by the experience of our office. It certainly has no fault to find with the paper, which is of excellent quality. The Stationery Office is actively interested in the reopening of Saggart and Clondalkin mills, and all the available information at our disposal is being given to those interested in their reopening. During the last year in which the Saggart mills were operating, the Stationery Office doubled its orders to it, so that our attitude all along has been most sympathetic. It is expected that the Saggart mills will be able to reopen shortly. I understand that some hitch has occurred that will prevent the Clondalkin mills from opening for some time. That is our information at the moment. We are prepared to do everything in our power to facilitate the opening of both of these mills. Vote put and agreed to.

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