The subject matter which I wish to raise now arises out of a question I addressed to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health on Wednesday of last week. The question, and the answer to it, are as follows:—
Dr. Ward asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health whether he will specify the ports at which second-hand clothing is admitted to the Saorstát, and whether he will state in detail the precautions that are being taken by his Department to insure that such clothing is not capable of conveying infectious or contagious disease.
Mr. Fitzgerald-Kenney: I would refer the Deputy to the Small-pox (Importation of Clothing, etc.) Temporary Regulations, 1927, which came into effect on the 1st September, 1927, and are still in operation, under which second-hand clothing, used bedding and rags may only be imported into Saorstát Eireann from Great Britain and Northern Ireland through the ports of Dublin, Cork, Waterford or Galway, where it becomes the duty of the Port Sanitary authority to undertake the disinfection of the articles and return them to the custody of the Customs and Excise authorities, subject to the following exemptions: (1) articles transmitted by the postal service or forming part of passengers' luggage; (2) goods in course of transit through Saorstát Eireann to an outside destination, if suitably packed; (3) articles accompanied by a certificate of the Medical Officer of Health of the place of origin in Great Britain or Northern Ireland or of the port of arrival in Ireland that they had been efficiently disinfected; (4) articles accompanied by a certificate from a Medical Officer of Health in Northern Ireland that they had not been imported from Great Britain.
Now, I think it cannot be disputed that if it is possible for second-hand clothing to get into this area without thorough disinfection, a danger to the health of the community arises out of that state of affairs. I understand that this material is for the most part collected in public institutions in England, Scotland and Wales, in such places as hospitals, jails, sanatoria, etc., and, owing to the economic conditions existing in this country, a very big trade is being done in this second-hand clothing at the present time. I think it is a far greater trade than any Deputy in this House realises. I went into the approximate figures with the Customs' authorities in my own district, in the road and rail station at Monaghan, and I found that approximately £5,000 worth of these goods are imported through that station annually. I do not know what the value of the entire importation into the Free State would be, but it must run into a very big figure, seeing that it is so high in a station like Monaghan. The poor people are glad to buy this clothing because of their poverty and its cheapness. It is not my intention in this matter to deprive them of this cheap form of clothing. What I do want to ensure is that if they are forced through economic conditions to buy this clothing they will buy it with safety to themselves, and with safety to their neighbours.
It is an undoubted fact that in recent years the matter has been commented on by medical men that skin diseases have become prevalent and mysterious outbreaks of contagious and infectious diseases, some of them indeed of a very deadly nature, are occurring. The origin of these diseases has not been effectively traced by the Public Health authorities. There are peculiar features in some of these outbreaks. I drew the attention of the House on the Local Government Vote to a small epidemic of typhoid that occurred in Monaghan. That was a fatal epidemic. It was confined to one family, but there were four deaths. I understand that in other parts of the county there have been similar mysterious cases with fatal consequences. I understand further that the medical officer of health in that area attributed this particular outbreak to the importation of second-hand clothing. As I have already said, these outbreaks have some peculiar features. They are peculiar in their high mortality, and they are peculiar in their virulence. That suggests to me, and to more eminent authorities than I profess to be, that these diseases are not the ordinary diseases of their class that have their origin in this country. It certainly is possible, if effective disinfection of second-hand clothing is not being carried out, that these diseases could be brought in through that medium. It is certainly possible that these diseases have been conveyed through that means.
When I raised this matter before, the Minister for Local Government and Public Health did not appear to be conversant with the conditions under which second-hand clothing is being imported. I do not wish to labour that point, but I think if the Minister is not conversant with a particular question raised here—and that question is an important one —it would be better he should admit he is not particularly clear on the matter, and that nobody should be deceived or misled by the answer.