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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 5 Jul 1938

Vol. 72 No. 3

Committee on Finance. Financial Motions. - Motion No. 7—Customs.

I move:—

(1) That a duty of customs at the rate of an amount equal to thirty-seven and one-half per cent. of the value of the article shall be charged, levied, and paid on every of the following articles which is imported on or after the 1st day of November, 1938, that is to say:—

(a) articles of iron or steel of any of the following descriptions which, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, are suitable for use in building construction and are not fabricated, that is to say:—

(i) angles,

(ii) channels,

(iii) girders,

(iv) joists,

(v) tees;

(b) articles of iron or steel which are, in the opinion aforesaid, of any of the following descriptions, that is to say:—

(i) squares,

(ii) flats,

(iii) hoop,

(iv) skelp,

(v) strip other than strip suitable for the manufacture of safety razor blades,

(vi) bars,

(vii) rods or rounds,

(viii) sheets,

(ix) plates,

(x) tinplates,

(xi) light rails not exceeding thirty pounds in weight per lineal yard;

(c) galvanised corrugated iron or steel, whether worked or unworked.

(2) That the duty mentioned in this Resolution, in so far as it is chargeable on articles mentioned in clause (c) in paragraph (1) of this Resolution, is in lieu of the duty imposed by Section 11 of the Finance Act, 1932 (No. 20 of 1932), and mentioned at reference No. 30 in the First Schedule to that Act, and accordingly the said duty mentioned at the said reference No. 30 shall not be charged or levied on any article imported on or after the 1st day of November, 1938.

(3) That the duty mentioned in this Resolution shall not be charged or levied on any article which would, but for this paragraph, be chargeable with that duty and is shown, to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners, to have been manufactured in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or in the Channel Islands, or in the Isle of Man, or in the Dominion of Canada and (in any case) to be comprised within one of the following classes or descriptions of articles, that is to say:—

(a) brassed strips; steel strips for manufacture of corsets; tempered steel lathing;

(b) cast steel sheets and plates for guillotine knives; mica steel sheets and plates; stainless steel sheets and plates;

(c) asphalt coated sheets and plates; bitumen coated sheets and plates; silver finish sheets and plates; stainless steel sheets and plates coated.

(4) That the provisions of Section 8 of the Finance Act, 1919, shall apply to the duty mentioned in this Resolution with the substitution of the expression "the area of application of the Acts of the Oireachtas" for the expression "Great Britain and Ireland" and as though the articles chargeable with the said duty were mentioned in the Second Schedule to the said Act in the list of goods to which two-thirds of the full rate is made applicable as a preferential rate.

(5) That whenever the Minister for Finance, after consultation with the Minister for Industry and Commerce, so thinks proper, the Revenue Commissioners may by licence authorise any particular person, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, to import without payment of the duty mentioned in this Resolution any articles chargeable with that duty either, as the Revenue Commissioners shall think proper, without limit as to time or quantity or either of them or within a specified time or in a specified quantity but so that no such licence shall be exempt from the provisions of Section 15 of the Finance (Agreement with the United Kingdom) Act, 1938 (No. 12 of 1938).

(6) That an article shall not be deemed for the purposes of this Resolution to have been manufactured in any particular country unless such proportion of its value as is prescribed by regulations made under sub-section (1) of Section 8 of the Finance Act, 1919, for the purposes of that section is the result of labour within that country.

This is the Resolution relating to iron and steel.

I should like to ask the Minister whether anything has been done to clear up the doubts that have arisen in the minds of steel manufacturers in the City of Dublin since this matter was brought up in the Financial Resolutions moved on the occasion of the Budget. The type of Resolution passed at that time created confusion in the minds of steel manufacturers in Dublin. There was a considerable amount of fear on their part that unemployment was going to be created in the industry here.

There was confusing legislation brought before the House at that particular time and I would be glad to know if steel manufacturers in the City of Dublin will have their position taken into consideration and if their fears will be wiped out?

I am not in a position to say. I understand that arrangements have been made by which some representatives of the steel manufacturers are to meet the Minister for Industry and Commerce. I do not know if that meeting has taken place as yet.

Presumably this will be embodied in the Finance Bill?

Presumably we will have some information on the subject when dealing with the Bill.

Question put and agreed to.

When does the Minister want these Resolutions reported?

I want them reported on Thursday.

Agreed.

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