You then proceed to enable the Irish Sugar Company to bring in foreign sugar and you collect from them the profit they make upon that sugar, a profit which is measured by the revenue duties which were imposed on sugar many years ago and which, in fact, correspond to a duty of about 2d. a lb on sugar; and on every pound of sugar that is imported by the Irish Sugar Company, taking into consideration the revenue duty they will pay on it and the profit they will collect from the public, the Treasury will receive, approximately 2d. a lb.— at least that. Are Deputies aware of that? I have not the slightest doubt in my mind that they are not aware of it, and that is why I am trying to inform them of it.
Over and above this, however, I should like to direct their attention to this little wrinkle: Messrs. Tate & Lyle were one of the principal firms in England that supplied this country with sugar, and they produced what was known as Tate's "Brights," which was a coarse sugar that was used extensively in Ireland. They also produced what was known, I think, as Tate's "Crystals," which was 3d. per cwt. cheaper but which is a fine sugar. Our people have always preferred Tate's "Brights," however. It is just a matter of preference. As between the two, I do not think there is much difference as to the sweetening quality, but our people prefer the coarse sugar. Now, the Irish Sugar Company produce coarse sugar also. But when you put the Irish sugar beside the Tate's sugar—that is the Tate's "Brights"— the latter looked much whiter than the Irish sugar and the sweetening quality, as we all know from our experience of the Tate Sugar Company, being refined from cane instead of beet and also due to the refining process employed in Great Britain being rather more elaborate than that employed in this country, was very much higher. The Irish Sugar Company, desirous to avoid a comparison being made between their "Brights" and the "Brights" that were imported from England, now refuse to import any of it, and all you can get in this country is the fine sugar because no comparison can be made between that and the sugar offered by the Irish Sugar Company. Incidentally, although this is a minor consideration, the fine sugar is 3d. cheaper and there is 3d. a cwt. more for the Treasury if you bring in the fine sugar and charge the same price as for Tate's "Brights."
This country has become so stupefied by one ruse after another for the plunder of the public for the benefit of the Treasury that they have ceased to be shocked by transactions of that kind. Nevertheless, lest such transactions should become an every-day custom of this country, it is right, on each occasion when the machinery for carrying these transactions through is brought before Dáil Eireann, that somebody should get up and remind the House that this is all part of a plan to pile up unnecessary expenditure on the backs of our people and deprive our people of many things they might enjoy if their resources were not being squandered in "cod" schemes such as this resolution is designed to promote.
