asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he is aware that contracts for plastering, plumbing, sanitary fittings, furnishing and decorative fibrous plaster work for the new Cinema being built by Messrs. Hayes, a Cork firm, at O'Connell Street, Dublin, have been placed in London and Sheffield; whether, in view of the fact that the Irish taxpayers have paid large sums of money by way of compensation for the rebuilding of these edifices, and that the trades involved are suffering from serious depression locally, he can take any action to remedy the serious national financial loss that accrues from such a practice.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - ERECTION OF A DUBLIN CINEMA.
Compensation does not purport to cover the cost of rebuilding; it is only paid to recoup in a measure persons whose property is injured through no fault of their own. It is desirable that all persons should obtain their building supplies in the Saorstát. But there is no power to require them to do so, and no reason to impose more restrictive conditions on those compelled through damage to rebuild than on those who decide to build of their own initiative.