I move:
That the Dáil disapproves of the decision of the Executive Council accepting the majority recommendation of the Tariff Commission that the application of the Irish Coachbuilders' Association, the National Union of Vehicle Builders, and the Irish Engineering Union be not granted.
On 31st January, 1927, an application from the Associations mentioned in the resolution for a 50 per cent. ad valorem duty on imported bodies of mechanically driven vehicles and on the parts of such bodies with certain exceptions, together with a duty at the rate of 10/- per vehicle on imported vehicles intended for animal traction, and 33½ per cent. ad valorem on the parts of such vehicles, was referred to the Tariff Commission. In November of last year there was presented to the Executive Council two reports in respect of that application, a majority report signed by two members of the Commission, and a minority report signed by one member. The majority report recommended that the entire application be not granted. We assume, from the fact that the report has been published, that the Executive Council have considered it, and have decided to accept the recommendation of the majority.
Before proceeding to state the case in support of the motion, I would like again to make a protest against the practice of the Tariff Commission in submitting recommendations in respect of applications that come before it. The Tariff Commission is not required by the Act that established it to make any recommendation at all. Its function is to ascertain and report to the Government all the facts relating to the industry concerned. The original intention, I take it, was that there should be an expert inquiry into each application, that the fullest possible information relating to the industry concerned would thus be made available to the Executive Council and the Dáil, but that the decision whether or not the application should be granted or refused would rest, in the first instance, with the Executive Council, and then with the Dáil. The practice of the Tariff Commission in making recommendations as well as supplying information has, in fact, destroyed that original intention.
In respect to previous reports we suspected that they were written not for the purpose of supplying the Dáil with the information that it should possess but of supporting the recommendation, and that relevant facts were either not presented or were presented in such a manner as would make them appear to conform with the recommendation. These suspicions are now shown to be justified.
This is the first occasion on which we have had a minority report from the Tariff Commission. There is contained in that minority report important information relating to the application which is not contained in the majority report and which, we must assume, would not be made available at all if there was agreement amongst the members of the Tariff Commission. Apart from the fact that the practice of the Tariff Commission in making recommendations in respect of applications that come before it has destroyed its judicial character, the fact that the Government has bound itself to accept these recommendations means that the Tariff Commission is put into a position which the Dáil never intended. It, and not the Executive Council or the Dáil, determines questions relating to tariffs. It is obvious, in view of the fact that applications are finally decided when the report of the Tariff Commission is published, that to that extent the fiscal powers of the Executive and of the Dáil have been surrendered to an unrepresentative body. That matter is of particular importance in relation to the application which is now before the House.
This application has been under consideration for a very long time. From the nature of the case it was assumed by those concerned in the industry that a favourable decision would be forthcoming, and consequently commitments were entered into which have been proved to be unjustified by the event.
Perhaps it would be well if, before going into details in respect of the application, I attempted to give a brief outline of the history of the industry and of the application for a tariff. At the time of the Act of Union there were from 1,700 to 2,000 hands employed in the coach-building industry in Dublin alone. For many years after that the coach-building industry was one of very considerable importance in the country. In 1849 there were in the City of Dublin 25 carriage works. A slump came after the famine, and for a long time the industry experienced very lean days, but in due course a revival came, and by 1885 the industry had been completely re-established. At that time it enjoyed a very substantial export trade. In fact, the products of the industry went all over the world and established a very high reputation, which to some extent still persists. A change in the fortunes of the industry took place with the advent of the motor car and the disappearance of horse-drawn vehicles, on which the reputation and experience of the industry were founded. But the more progressive firms in this country adapted themselves to the new situation and made bodies for motor cars. They made them satisfactorily.
The industry was rapidly acquiring in the new branch the same reputation it had acquired in the old when the war occurred. What happened then was that the skilled workers on which the industry depended were absorbed in war work, and, as Deputies are aware, it became impossible to secure chassis. The import of chassis of motor cars ceased for the entire period of the war. During the course of the war the world learned the immense possibilities of the motor car for transport purposes. When it concluded all countries endeavoured to equip themselves, and to provide their requirements in motor transport, as far as possible, within their own shores. During the course of the war the British Government imposed duties upon imported cars, which gave the British industry a great advantage, and enabled it to make very great strides, when the demands of the war ceased, and it was possible for motor manufacturing firms and coach-building firms in that country to engage in ordinary commercial enterprise.
Unfortunately in this country the termination of the world war marked the beginning of our own troubles and it was not possible, with the factors existing here, to engage actively in such work for some years. When the troubles ended and the proprietors of these factories came to review the situation they found that a practice had grown up in the trade which made it particularly difficult for them to secure in it the place that they thought they were entitled to. Motor cars were habitually imported in the form of complete vehicles. In other countries, into which motor cars are imported, it is the usual practice to import the chassis only and have the body put on by native labour. Here, however, the practice is the reverse. Agents exist for the sale of the cars in whose interest it is to sell not the chassis alone but the complete car. The coachbuilders of this country found it very difficult to maintain themselves in that situation.
With the establishment of the Free State Government the coachbuilders in the Free State agitated for increased protection. They did acquire some form of protection automatically because, of course, the duties imposed in England during the war came into operation in respect of the Free State when it was established. These duties, however, were completely inadequate for the purposes of protection. I think I can say that the coach-building industry was one of the first to ask for protection from this Government, and it is a noteworthy fact that the Fiscal Inquiry Committee, which the Government set up in 1923, and which was composed of people definitely free trade in their outlook, and which produced a report of a very conservative nature, nevertheless singled out this one industry, and recommended that the existing duties should be revised, so as to give it a measure of protection which would result in its development. Certain alterations in the existing duties were effected but merely for the purpose of securing additional revenue. The increased protection which the coachbuilders required was not granted.
When the Tariff Commission was established in 1926 the coachbuilders were one of the first industries to apply to have their case heard by that body. As I have stated the application was referred to it in January, 1927, and the report was published in January, 1931. Altogether, I think it can be stated that the Government has treated this industry in a very cavalier fashion. It has had its difficulties brought to its notice repeatedly since its inception, and yet no action has been taken to enable those engaged in it to overcome these difficulties. That attitude of the Government is all the more extraordinary in view of the importance of the industry.
This industry is important for several reasons. In the first place, it gives a considerable amount of employment and is capable of giving a much greater amount. The number of persons at present engaged in it is set out in the report to be not more than 400 excluding tramway and railway companies' employees. The amount of employment which it is capable of giving, if developed to its fullest capacity, is one of the points in respect of which there is considerable dispute. I want to direct the attention of the House, however, to the figures which can be calculated from the recently-published trade returns for 1930. During that year the value of the touring and commercial cars imported into the Free State was £1,267,000. It is contended that half of that figure can be taken as representing the value of the body-work imported, that is, £634,000. If we deduct from the second figure 20 per cent., representing the profits of agents, transport charges and the like, we get a figure of £509,000, of which, it is contended, 60 per cent. represents the wages paid to workers. In other words, by the fact that we imported the bodies of these 8,700 touring and commercial cars in 1930, we deprived Irish workers of wages amounting to over £300,000, and I submit to the Dáil that in present circumstances we cannot afford to consider a loss of that kind lightly.
If, as I think, I can demonstrate that the case for the granting of this protection is overwhelming, I am sure Deputies will agree that the majority members of the Tariff Commission and the Government were wrong in refusing it. It is an industry in respect of which the relation which labour costs bears to the value of the gross output is much higher than in any other industry, with the exception of building and contracting. Labour costs, according to figures published in previous reports of the Tariff Commission, are 50 per cent. of the value of the gross output, and that falls to be compared with the figure, 5 per cent., for baconcuring, 6 per cent. for grain-milling, 28 per cent. for woollen and worsted manufactures, and 32 per cent. for the boot and shoe industry. We must also bear in mind that the type of labour employed is of considerable importance to us. It is not unskilled, or even semi-skilled, labour. It is very highly skilled labour, and, as I pointed out some days ago in a discussion upon another report from the Tariff Commission, it is very important for us to preserve every opportunity there is for providing employment for skilled labour in this country. We have plenty of opportunities, if they are availed of, for employing the unskilled, but our resources in skilled labour are so small that we should be very slow before we take any action likely to diminish them. It is also to be noted that a large proportion of the raw materials used in this industry are available within the country, and that relates particularly to the timber used in the manufacture of motor bodies. The exportation of the hard wood used in the construction of the coach and motor bodies, that is, ash and oak, is at present going on at a pace never witnessed before. The country is being denuded of valuable timber which will take a generation to replace.
I have here a letter which I received in June last from Mr. O'Gorman of Clonmel, a prominent coachbuilder, an extract from which I would like to read to Deputies. He said "Our native hard wood in the shape of ash trees, the finest in the world, the principal raw material for the industry is being exported before our eyes from every station up and down the country. Notwithstanding the recent enactment regarding the cutting of timber, Scotchmen who are over here buying up these groves of ash tell me they can have a permit to cut the trees from the Department concerned by wire after receipt of their application and these trees take 60 years to mature."
The industry is also important because its development will assist in the development of a number of subsidiary industries which are referred to in paragraph 123 of the report. The applicants contended that beneficial results would accrue to the tanning industry, cotton and woollen industry, poplin, paint and varnish making, brass and metal founding, cushion spring and case making, sheet metal work and brass and nickel plating. I want to emphasise the importance of this industry for us and I would ask Deputies to bear these remarks of mine in mind when we come to consider the evidence and arguments on which the Tariff Commission's recommendation is based. We consider that this application is of very vital importance. The case for the granting of it is so strong that if it is refused there is no existing industry which can possibly hope to succeed. A much stronger case was made by the coachbuilders for protection than has ever been made in this House or out of it, at the Tariff Commission or anywhere else, for a number of industries which have succeeded in getting protection. The case of the coachbuilders is certainly much stronger than any case which could be made for the protection of the boot and shoe industry. It is one hundred times stronger than the case set out in the Tariff Commission's recent report in respect of butter. The real question which the Dáil will be asked to decide upon this motion is not so much whether this particular tariff should be imposed but whether any opportunity at all is going to be afforded for the development of industry in this country. The attitude of the Tariff Commission and presumably the attitude of the Executive Council is that owing to our small market and limited resources it is not possible for any industry, no matter how long established or how efficiently managed, to reach the standard of efficiency which prevails abroad. They take the stand therefore that any attempt to develop these industries by protection is useless and should not be attempted. The vote upon this motion must be taken as one of approval or disapproval of that attitude.
I have emphasised the importance of the industry and the significance of the Tariff Commission's report because I think it essential that members of the Dáil should bear these facts in mind when they come to consider the actual details of the application and the case made against a tariff. The application can be divided into a number of parts, which are set out on page 12 of the report, paragraph 14, and I propose to deal with it in respect of each part separately.
First it relates to the manufacture of the bodies of vehicles intended for use on railways and tramways. We can leave out of account the question of tramways. There is, in fact, no importation of tramcar bodies, nor does it appear likely that any such importation will take place in the future. There is no case to be made for a tariff. There is no case to be made against a tariff. In respect of the application in so far as it related to railway carriages and waggons, the members of the Coachbuilders' Association stated that they had not engaged, and did not propose to engage, in that work. They gave no evidence in support of the application, which part of the case was left to the representatives of the workers' unions concerned, which are mentioned in the motion. Evidence was given by the railway companies that some 20 third class corridor carriages were imported in 1907, and 260 waggons in 1919, for the Great Southern Railways, and 250 for the Great Northern Railway in the same year. Since then no importations have taken place except certain combined engines and carriages brought in for experimental purposes.
The railway companies stated that if the application was amended to exclude from its scope certain parts, a list of which they submitted, they would be relieved of any apprehension of immediate loss if the application was granted. The applicants endeavoured to meet the difficulty of the companies by amending the application so as to exclude raw materials and parts common to other lines of industry.
I will quote from paragraph 48 of the report.
The companies submitted a fuller and more detailed list of such materials and parts, and the applicants, although they did not specifically refuse to accept this list, did not definitely adopt it.
Despite the fact that the railway companies admitted that if the application was amended by the exclusion of the parts to which they referred they did not anticipate they would be involved in any immediate loss if the application was granted, they nevertheless opposed the application, and they opposed it on this ground. They said they wanted freedom to purchase in the open market as an inducement to their employees to produce work of good quality and to give a reasonable output. That is the only case against the tariff. There is no condition in this report, no other argument whatever against the tariff, except this desire on the part of the railway companies to be able to threaten the importation in order to force a better output from their employees, or possibly to effect a reduction in wages. The applicants, on the other hand, stated that they desired a tariff so that the workers who are only employed for four days a week might be given fuller employment. It is between these two cases that the Dáil must decide in respect to this part of the application. On the one hand, you have the fact that workers in the railway works have been employed for only four days a week. You have the fact that the importation of railway carriages and waggons has taken place in the past and may take place in the future. You have the admission of the companies that if the application was amended in the manner they suggested they had no apprehension of immediate loss, and against those arguments and admissions you have only the desire of the railway companies to be free to import for the purpose of forcing on their employees the working conditions that they thought should prevail.
The Tariff Commission do not appear to have considered this part of the application at all. They merely state in paragraph 108 that the fears expressed by the railway companies as to the possible ill-effects of a tariff are not without foundation. Deputies, however, can read the report two or three times, and I do not think they will succeed in discovering what exactly were the fears expressed by the railway companies concerning the possible ill-effects of the tariff. The Tariff Commission forgot to put that in the report. The railway companies secured considerable benefits from the State, and it is not unreasonable to ask in return that they should give the maximum employment possible here. It is our view that they should be given definitely to understand by this Dáil that the importation of railway waggons and carriages which are capable of being made here will not be permitted in any circumstances whatsoever. Remember there is no question whatever about the efficiency of their works. Tribute to their efficiency is contained in the Tariff Commission's Report. The witnesses who appeared on behalf of the railway companies testified as to the efficiency of the workers. The only case against the tariff submitted to the Tariff Commission was that to which I have referred, the desire of the railway companies to be in a position to use a threat of importation against the workers.
Let us take the next part of the report, the part that refers to the manufacture of the vehicles for animal traction. The evidence produced before the Commission shows that the work at present available for coachbuilders on horse-drawn vehicles, lorries, floats, drays, is largely repairs and maintenance. It is stated, however, that there is still an extensive demand for what are known as governess cars and traps, a demand which is at present being met by the importation of second-hand vehicles from England at prices with which the Irish coachbuilders cannot and should not be expected to compete. It is to be noted that in respect of this part of the application there was no opposition forthcoming. Whatever statements are contained in the Tariff Commission's Report are not based upon the evidence of opponents to the application. The Dublin Carriers' Association opposed the application in respect to the component parts of horse-drawn vehicles, but on the applicants agreeing to the exclusion of springs and axles from their application the opposition ceased.
It is, I think, to be assumed from the Tariff Commission Act, and from the speeches in relation to it which have been made here by Ministers, that the function of the Tariff Commission is to hear evidence in relation to the applications, and furnish that evidence in handy form to the Dáil. If there is no opposition to the application, if no individual or no organised section of the community considers their interests sufficiently affected to justify them in giving evidence against the application, it surely is not the function of the Tariff Commission to set itself up as the Devil's Advocate against the applicants and make a case which no other section of the community is prepared to make.
There can be no doubt as to the efficiency of the Saorstát coachbuilders in the manufacture of those horse-drawn vehicles. I have told you before that in the past they established a world-wide reputation for their products in this particular line. At present they are capable of producing those cars and selling them at prices with which English firms cannot compete. The competition comes from imported second-hand cars, cars which are no longer required in other countries, and which are dumped in here because there is no other country in the world into which they can be dumped. There is considerable doubt as to the prices which these cars fetch. Certain values are declared on the Customs forms which are mentioned in the Tariff Commission's Report, but as the cars are not subject to duty there is no necessity for accuracy on the part of the importers in computing the value of the cars they are bringing in. It has been brought to my notice that on occasion these cars have been sent in to agents here with instructions to sell them at whatever price they can get for them. In fact, I have been brought into touch with cases of people who bought these cars under the impression that they were getting good value at prices for which they could have secured new cars with the usual maker's twelve months guarantee. The second-hand cars they bought were worthless. They looked all right and were freshly painted, but were, in fact, of no value whatever.
