I move:
That Dáil Eireann hereby approves of Control of Imports (Quota No. 12) (Amendment) Order, 1937, made on the 24th day of August, 1937, by the Executive Council under the Control of Imports Acts, 1934 and 1937.
This resolution relates to an Order amending Quota No. 12 Order, which restricted the importation of silk and artificial silk hose. The main purpose of the amending Order was to alter the definition. The original Order referred to "hose and half-hose wholly or mainly of silk, artificial silk or a combination of silk and artificial silk." It was found, in practice, that the definition was defective, and that the restrictions of the Order could be evaded by putting some cotton or worsted threads through the articles. Consequently, it was considered desirable to alter the words in the definition from "wholly or mainly" to "wholly or partly." That is the sole change made by the amending Order, except that half-hose was excluded from its scope. The trade in silk half-hose is small and no substantial injury was done to Saorstát manufacturers by the exclusion of silk half-hose from the scope of the Order, while its exclusion facilitated considerably its administration and made it possible to adjust the quota more evenly to the requirements of the situation. The quota for the present period is 240,000 pairs of articles, and the period extends from 1st October to 31st January next year. That represents, of course, a very considerable reduction upon imports in earlier periods. In fact, the imports during that period will be only 24 per cent. of the imports during the corresponding period of 1934, that is, the period immediately prior to the making of the quota order.
Production of silk and artificial silk hose in the Saorstát has, of course, expanded very considerably. It was negligible in the year 1932. In that year the total number of pairs produced was 39,000, and in 1936 the production had increased to 3,286,000 pairs. I have not got the exact figures for the number of persons employed in the production of silk and artificial silk hosiery, but the total number of persons employed on 1st March this year in all the hosiery factories of the Saorstát, irrespective of whether they were making silk hose or other classes of hose, was 4,475. I notice that Deputy McGowan, in the course of a speech recently, referred to the size of the quota and indicated that he considered it too large, that the goods which will be imported in consequence of it could be produced in some factories in the Saorstát. I do not think that is quite correct, but, apart from that aspect of the matter, the Deputy possibly overlooked that goods which are imported under licence have nevertheless to pay duty which at the present applies to these goods at the rate of 40 per cent. ad valorem, with a minimum of 6/- per dozen pairs. That duty should, in itself, be sufficient to protect the manufacture of these goods here and make it possible for Saorstát manufacturers to get the whole of the market, were it not for the circumstances in which certain well-advertised brands secured a place in the public taste and were favoured by shopkeepers for one reason or another. The reason it was necessary to supplement the customs duty by a quota order was to deal with that situation.
As I explained when the Control of Imports Bill was passed, in the ordinary course a customs duty should be sufficient to protect any industry, but we recognised that there were certain industries where existing trade connections and the widespread advertising which was done in the past, and can still be done here through the medium of English papers circulating here, would result in imports continuing, despite the duty, and it was to deal with difficulties of that kind that this power to prohibit imports was taken, subject to such quantity as might be permitted to come in under licence. In the case of every quota order, some nominal quantity will always be allowed to be imported, because there are people who may have special tastes or who desire to get some special type of article and who are prepared to pay for it irrespective of the duties charged, and I see no reason why they should not be allowed to exercise that individual preference provided that the total quantity which may come in is not sufficient to upset seriously the prospects of success of a native industry.
In the case of silk and artificial silk hose, however, I do not think it can be said that all the varieties which traders and the public demand are yet being produced here in sufficient quantities. No doubt the existing factories are quite capable of producing a sufficient number of pairs of silk and artificial silk stockings to meet the requirements of the country, but there are many differences of quality and design, and not all the qualities and not all the designs are as yet being produced sufficiently to meet what appears to be the public need. In fact, we consult regularly with the Association of Hosiery Manufacturers and the organisation representing distributors, and endeavour to secure that the quota fixed for any period will be sufficient to stimulate production in the factories, while at the same time ensuring that the distributors will have a reasonable supply of all the different qualities and varieties they require. For each period the quota is reduced and will continue to be reduced as production increases, until we reach some stage where a fixed number will be allowed in, subject to payment of duty every year and not liable to further reduction. That stage has already been reached in relation to a number of articles, but it has not yet been reached in the case of silk and artificial silk hose, although, as the Deputy will notice, the quota permitted is in fact only a very small proportion of the total production of Irish factories.
