I move:—
(1) That the duty of Customs imposed by Section 16 of the Finance Act, 1925 (No. 28 of 1925) shall not be charged or levied on the following articles imported into Saorstát Eireann on or after the 26th day of April, 1928, that is to say, hoods and shapes for the manufacture of hats which require for the purpose of such manufacture to be blocked, shaped, or cut, and in respect of which it appears to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that the process of blocking, shaping, or cutting represents a substantial portion of the process of manufacture.
(2) That paragraph (e) of sub-section (2) of the said Section 16 of the Finance Act, 1925 (No. 28 of 1925) shall cease to have effect on and after the 26th day of April, 1928.
(3) It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this resolution shall have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1927 (No. 7 of 1927).
This is practically a definition resolution. Under the terms of the apparel tax unblocked hats and shapes are free of duty, but it appears that there are comparatively few hat shapes known that are completely unblocked. There is some little shaping given to them. It was not intended that those hats should be taxed, and it is for the purpose of enabling the Revenue Commissioners to exempt hats that are partly blocked provided they are being imported for the manufacture of hats. It is really to admit a type of hood or shape which was intended to be admitted. We thought that goods which were not in the really shaped process could be admitted free, but it was found under the terms of the apparel duty that they could not. No hat that has not a substantial amount of work still to be done on it will be admitted free. This will, as a matter of fact, increase the manufacture of hats here.
