The Deputy, I am sure, will realise that licences are issued in thousands by my Department. There are gift licences and trade licences, and I am sure he does not expect that it would be possible to keep the type of register to which he refers. These licences are issued by different sections of my Department in different places, and the compilation of a central register, such as he appears to have in mind, would serve one purpose only — not a purpose with which, I suspect, the Deputy, or indeed any member of the House, could have much sympathy. It would serve the purpose of adding to the Civil Service, without, at the same time, making any contribution whatever to the community.
The issue of trade licences is very limited. They are not always issued, as the Deputy seems to think, to conserve supplies. They are often issued because of the insistence by the Government to which the commodity is being exported — as in the case of salmon — that a certain quantity be sent and that it be consigned to a central authority, such as the Ministry of Food. I am not prepared to accept this amendment because, as I said on Second Reading, there is no objection to him or any other Deputy at any time putting down a question on the Order Paper seeking information as to the manner in which licences have been issued in regard to these trading matters. I take it that he is ruling out entirely the thousands of other licences, such as gift licences, which are issued from time to time by my Department in respect of all kinds of food. These licences deal with very small parcels and there would not be any sense in having the amendment applied to them. So far as the other licences are concerned, they are very limited and deal with such commodities as salmon, rabbits, and poultry. We keep in the different sections of the Department certain records and we have never refused to make available to Deputies, on request, information which was legitimately sought. To ask us to compile the type of register which the Deputy has in mind would impose a great deal of extra work on the Department and necessitate the setting up of a separate branch on which public money would have to be spent. Such a branch could not possibly hope to give any results, nor would it make available information which cannot be secured by those who are legitimately seeking information. I think I have covered this point sufficiently. The Deputy and the House should be satisfied that there is no need for this elaborate and expensive organisation.