asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether his inquiries into the circumstances under which supplementary allocations of woollen cloth were made to two clothing manufacturers have been completed; and, if so, if he will state why this exceptional concession was made in favour of these two firms at the expense of other allottees of the available supply of woollen textiles.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Allocations of Woollen Cloth.
The answer to the first point of the Deputy's question is in the affirmative. As I have explained on another occasion, in the Dáil, I decided to grant these increased quotas in consideration of representations from the firms concerned that they were newly-established and were only getting into their stride in 1940, the datum year for the woollen and worsted distribution scheme. They claimed that quotas based on their purchases of woollen and worsted piece goods in the datum period were so unduly low in relation to their machine capacity that it would be impracticable for them to continue in business. The increased quotas granted to them, representing about ¾ of 1 per cent. of the total supplies available, did not involve any reduction in the quota which had already been granted to other traders.
Subsequent consultation with the trade interests concerned and consideration of technical and general information regarding the trade which they placed before me, convinced me that one of the manufacturers concerned could reasonably be expected to continue in business without the grant of a special quota, and I, therefore, decided to withdraw the concession in that case. In the case of the other manufacturer it was agreed that an additional quota was necessary if extreme hardship was to be avoided, and I accepted a recommendation from the trade interests which involved a slight reduction in the additional quota originally granted.
Was the firm from which this special quota, which the Minister granted and subsequently withdrew, situated in Dublin or in Cork?
The firm from which the special quota was withdrawn was in Dublin.