Of course, I do not want to delay unduly the Ministers or to attempt to propound conundrums which they cannot reasonably be expected to answer at a moment's notice, but in connection with the codification of the apparel duties, might I suggest that the Minister should cause to be circulated a white paper, such as is sometimes circulated with the Finance Bill, explaining the reference and the changes which it is proposed to make? It would be of assistance, for instance, if a schedule of the tariffs, which it is proposed to repeal, were set out and a reference provided for where the tariffs, which are provided under sub-section (6), are to be found because, in sub-section (6), certain articles are excluded from the categories contained in the Schedule because they are liable to duty under other heads. I sympathise with the Minister's difficulty in trying to codify any existing system of law, and it may very well mean that this attempt at codification will make confusion worse confounded unless we proceed very cautiously at the enactment stage.
In a cursory glance, I have already discovered one thing which is certainly going to appear ambiguous to merchants. Part III says:—
"This Part of this Schedule does not apply to any article chargeable under Part II of this Schedule."
Part II of the Schedule describes as liable to duty articles which are
"all garments, whether complete or incomplete, which, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners have, before importation, been substantially worn or otherwise used outside Saorstát Eireann by a person other than the importer and the members of his family or household."
I take it that that is meant to be a description of secondhand clothes imported for sale. Part III, however, which does not apply to any of those clothes, which I understood meant secondhand clothes, sets out that there shall be 5/- per article chargeable on proofed overcoats and other proofed coats; 10/- per overcoat or per suit, as the case may be, on overcoats and suits which are made wholly or mainly of woven tissue and are not proofed, suitable for wear by men or by boys; 4/- per article on coats, jackets and trousers of similar type; and 2/- on waistcoats; and so forth. Is it proposed to remove the minimum rates of duty on secondhand clothes and to go back to the old system of ad valorem duty on secondhand clothes which broke down, as far as I am aware, on a previous occasion, and which had to be altered to a specific duty per garment?
