Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 30 Apr 1930

Vol. 34 No. 9

Financial Resolution No. 2—Customs.

Mr. Blythe

I move:—

(1) That in lieu of the present customs duties in respect of wine, there shall (subject to the provisions of this Resolution) be charged, levied, and paid as on and from the 2nd day of June, 1930, the following customs duties on all wine imported into Saorstát Eireann, that is to say—

	s.	d.
Wine—
Not exceeding 25 degrees of proof spirit, the gallon	3	0
Exceeding 25 but not exceeding 30 degrees of proof spirit, the gallon	5	0
Exceeding 30 but not exceeding 42 degrees of proof spirit, the gallon	12	0
And for every degree or fraction of a degree beyond the highest above charged, an additional duty, the gallon	1	0
Sparkling wine in bottle, an additional duty, the gallon	12	6
Still wine not exceeding 25 degrees of proof spirit in bottle, an additional duty, the gallon	2	0
Still wine exceeding 25 degrees of proof spirit in bottle, an additional duty, the gallon	4	0

(2) That the provisions of Section 8 of the Finance Act, 1919, shall apply to the duties mentioned in this Resolution, with the substitution of the expression "Saorstát Eireann" for the expression "Great Britain and Ireland."

(3) That for the purposes of this Resolution wine rendered sparkling or effervescent and bottled in a bonded warehouse shall be deemed to be sparkling wine imported in bottle, and upon delivery for home consumption shall be charged with the duty imposed on sparkling wine by this Resolution.

(4) That in this Resolution the word "wine" includes the lees of wine.

(5) 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 Resolution varies the wine duty. Deputy O'Connell asked me some questions about it, but really I would prefer not to answer him very fully until the notes on which the treaty will be based have been exchanged. The treaty has not yet been negotiated in detail, and I would prefer that any full statement should be reserved until the treaty actually comes before the House for ratification. I would merely say this, that this £12,000 will not be a loss to the Saorstat; that is, we believe that the advantages we will get from the treaty will be sufficient to justify the change.

Mr. Little

I would suggest to the Minister that it would be a far better thing to reduce further the amount of taxation on the very light wines, and not to make such a reduction in the tax on champagne. It is a joke, really, to be reducing the tax on champagne in this country, and it would probably be of far more value to French wine producers if the lighter wines were made even cheaper than they are. Besides the fact that these are healthy drinks, there is an immense amount of Bass imported to the injury of the Irish-produced beer, and I think it would be far better, whatever the loss might be, to increase slightly the tax on imported beers and imported spirits, and to decrease the tax on home spirits.

Mr. Blythe

So far as imported beers are concerned, I do not think people who, so to speak, know the subject would suggest that either in the case of beer or whiskey imported there should be any sort of penal tax or discrimination, because we export, and no advantage would be gained by discrimination in that way. Champagne is really a light wine.

Resolution put and agreed to.