asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state how many working tanneries there are in the Free State and how many men are employed in those factories; how many Irish hides and skins have been tanned in those factories for the year 1930, and how many foreign; how many foreign hides and skins have been imported for the year 1930, and how many English market hides and skins were imported through the Port of Limerick for the year 1930.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Free State Tanneries.
According to the Census of Production, 1929, the latest year for which a census was taken, there were four tanneries at work in the Free State. The number of persons, including proprietors working in the business, clerical and wage-earning staffs, was 53, and the number of hides tanned in these factories was 9,730. Information is not available as to the numbers that were Irish hides and those that were foreign hides. Only the quantity in cwts., and not the number, of hides imported into the Free State are available. In the year 1930, 3,676 cwts. of raw hides and skins were imported; they practically all came from Great Britain. 39,826 cwts. of tanned hides and skins were imported in the same year. In 1930 there were imported from Great Britain into the Port of Limerick raw hides amounting to 2,533 cwts. It is not possible to say how much of this was English market hides and skins.