asked the Minister for Finance if he will state (a) the number of licences authorising the importation without payment of duty on coal which have been issued since the 1st April last to the latest available date; (b) the quantity of the article or commodity permitted to be imported under such licences; and (c) the number (if any) of applications for such licences which have been refused and the reason for refusal in each case.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Licences to Import Coal.
(a) 57 licences authorising the importation of
(b) 21,288 tons, without payment of duty, were issued during the period 1st April, 1932, to 31st October, 1932.
I regret that it is not possible to supply information under head (c) of the question relative to the number of applications refused. The applications for licences which are received are not indexed according to the sections of the Act or the items of the Schedules to which they refer, and the analysis of all the applications, to ascertain the number (if any) in any category which have been refused, would necessitate an expenditure of time and labour which the results would not, in my opinion, justify.