I should like to say that there cannot be any discussion on the Minister's statement.
Committee on Finance. - Statement by the Minister for Industry and Commerce on Sugar.
Are we allowed to ask questions?
Yes, the Deputy may ask a question.
I must ask the indulgence of the House on this matter. I just want to make a short factual statement arising out of the question and supplementaries asked by Deputy Cogan yesterday, concerning sugar, and arising out of what was described as the Deputy's personal explanation to-day and his exhibition here of samples of sugar which he described, both yesterday and again to-day, as comparable to the sweepings of the road. In view of the harm which a statement such as that would be likely to do to one of our major Irish industries and to an essential foodstuff, I ask the indulgence of the House to allow me to make a short statement.
I must say emphatically that there is no truth whatever in the suggestion or the statement that there is any dirt or any foreign matter of any description in the sugar or in the samples which the Deputy exhibited here to-day. I have had this matter investigated by the sugar company and I am informed by the sugar company that this is pure, Formosan cane sugar, containing no foreign matter and no dirt of any description. It is slightly different in colour. It is of a brownish colour. That is due entirely to the fact that it has not been refined or bleached with charcoal. If it were refined or bleached with charcoal, it would be as white as any other sugar on the market, either here or elsewhere.
Like the substitutes for our bread and flour.
I do not know. I have not sufficient technical knowledge to say whether there is any difference between them any more than there would be between bleached white flour and wholemeal. I want to make it perfectly clear that this sugar does not enter into any part of the ration for domestic consumption in this country, that no manufacturer is compelled to take this sugar in substitution for the pure white sugar. I want to say further—and I have seen the evidence of it that has been given to me by the sugar company this afternoon—that a considerable number of unsolicited testimonials as to the satisfactory nature of this sugar and its suitability have reached their office and I have read the originals this afternoon. I want to say also that one of the largest users, if not the largest user, of sugar in this country has asked for and taken this sugar in preference to the white sugar. As Minister for Industry and Commerce I have the responsibility of maintaining the sugar supply at the highest possible level, not merely so as to meet the full requirements of the domestic ration but to meet the full requirements of our manufacturers who are dependent to a very large extent on sugar for their manufactures and for the employment they give, together with their very substantial exports.
I asked your permission and the permission of the House to make this statement in view of the serious consequences which a statement such as that made by Deputy Cogan to-day might have both inside and outside this country if it were not dealt with and repudiated on the spot.
May I ask one question? Can the Minister give us an assurance that my statement yesterday that this was imported sugar is true?
Will the Deputy now have the grace and the decency to withdraw the statement he made that this was comparable only to the sweepings of the road?
I stand over every word of the statement I made yesterday. This is imported sugar and it is not fit for human consumption——
Deputy Cogan will please——
You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
——and it is not comparable to our home manufactured sugar.
Deputy Cogan is deliberately ignoring the Chair. I warn him that there is a penalty for that and that penalty will be imposed if he does not restrain himself.
I am sorry.
I do not want to trespass on the kindness of the House but in view of the statement that this sugar is not fit for consumption, I want to repeat that that is a very irresponsible statement to make. This sugar, which is not being forced upon anybody and which forms no part of the domestic ration of the people of this country, is pure cane sugar, 98 degrees polarisation. It contains no foreign matter of any description.
It is all foreign matter.
I think the Minister's statement should be accepted.
That is the sort of cheap remark made by a person who does not realise how much damage he does to one of our most important industries. I am sure the tourists will read the Deputy's remarks.