asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state the reason why he authorised an increase of 5/- per ton in the price of cement.
Written Answers. - Increased Price of Cement.
Consequent on the expansion in the demand for cement and to ensure as far as possible that building activities would not be impeded, it was decided to arrange for the importation of extra supplies.
It was not desirable that different prices should obtain for cement and as the cost of imported cement was considerably higher than that of Irish cement, it was necessary to fix an average price for both the Irish and imported products.
While this involved an increase of 5/- per ton in the case of Irish cement, it involved a much more substantial reduction in the price at which the imported cement would otherwise be made available to the public.