I think the Irish anthracite is of exceptionally good quality. There may be some bottleneck that requires to be broken. There should be no difficulty in disposing of Irish anthracite, if our home production is unable to supply the home market, that is, if the demand exceeds the supply. I know the Minister will look into the matter and I only refer to it as one instance in which the manner of control may affect Irish production.
In industrial development the most important people are those who are prepared to go into the business of manufacturing. It is frequently said that business and politics do not mix. That is true; but business and patriotism mix very well. The patriotic motive should be stressed in inducing Irish citizens of ability and with capital to go into the work of extending our industrialisation. It is essential for the wellbeing of our people that industrial development, in the main, should extend to our country areas, that we should have the maximum amount of decentralisation. It is essential that each of our provincial towns should have at least one progressive productive industry. Sentiment does enter into that. It should be our duty to influence business people in our provincial centres to regard it as a shame if their particular town is not giving substantial industrial employment and is not turning out Irish-produced goods.
To emphasise that particular point, I now refer to the fact that there are some industries which have weathered the storms of 50 years which were established for sentimental reasons, as the promoters wanted to do good for their own particular district. One outstanding example is the Foxford factory, established by a religious order for the sole purpose of benefiting the poor of that district and making them self-supporting and independent. In the same way we have the leather industry, Governey's boot factory, established by a progressive business man and public representative over 50 years ago and still turning out exceptionally good produce. I think there was a certain amount of propaganda to represent Irish industrialists as profiteering sharks and self-seeking persons. That ought to stop. The individual or the combination of people who establish an industry in any provincial town should be regarded as national benefactors. The drive to induce our people to purchase Irish goods should be pushed forward with the utmost energy. It suits business people generally and may be to their advantage to have the largest possible display of goods on their counters, but we have reached the stage when our retailers should give some little help to the Irish-produced article, or at least not cast a slur on it. As a farmer I use farm manure forks, and when in a shop recently I saw an imported fork and an Irish-manufactured fork which looked as good as the imported article. I think it was manufactured in Cork. I do not say it was perfect. It was being retailed at 10/- and the Swedish fork at 12/-. The shopkeeper suggested that the imported one was worth the extra 2/-. I do not think it is necessary for a business man to push the sale of an imported article in that way. He may have to advise the customer, but there is room for a wide variety of opinion as to which is the better article, and when there is a doubt the retail man should come down on the side of the Irish article.
It would be a good thing if the Institute of Industrial Research would investigate the quality of such goods and make a pronouncement in regard to each particular Irish product, setting out its quality. There should be a national exhibition of Irish goods and an investigation of the merits of those goods by the institute, to place them in order of merit, so that where goods would be to all appearances similar the institute would, through technical examination, be able to advise customers as to the value of each article in relation to the other. Some people may be very well informed in regard to the value of goods, but others cannot truly assess them, particularly where they are required for machines or for utility purposes. There should be a scientific test of the various types, so that the public would be advised as to which article was of higher or lower value than another. Something of that nature would be very beneficial and I think it would help very considerably those who want to help Irish industry and who are only too anxious to purchase the Irish article in preference to the foreign one but who do not want to have foisted upon them in the name of Irish industry some very inferior product. The best of our manufacturers would welcome some investigation into standards so that they would be able to give their customers and the general public an assurance that their goods had stood that scientific and impartial test and were, therefore, of the highest possible quality.
In this matter of the external control of distribution and industry and commerce here, it would be no harm, I think, to refer to the extent to which foreign insurance companies monopolise Irish insurance business. There is need for expansion of our insurance business and if necessary there should be some restriction upon the foreign companies which take very considerable sums of money each year out of this country and which, I think, exercise a certain amount of control over credit and industry generally here.
In the same way, the hire-purchase business is growing and it represents a very substantial portion of the credit business of this country. Here again, I think, there is need for investigation by the Minister's Department. We would like to know how far this business is beneficial to the country or how far it tends to induce people with small incomes to purchase luxury commodities which they are unable to afford. We would also like to have an investigation of the interest charges in hire purchase. They appear to the ordinary observer to be excessive and, as far as the purchase of machinery and productive goods is concerned, I think they are a very severe impost on the country. Take the case of a man who purchases a tractor to work his own land or to work for hire; the interest charges, if he purchases it on hire purchase, constitute a very severe drag on that individual. It should be possible to provide cheaper credit facilities for the person who wants to buy useful productive goods, and when I speak of productive goods I would include household requisites such as sewing machines, washing machines and cookers, which are all essential to the housewife.
As I have referred in passing to the anthracite-producing industry I would like to refer to the whole question of fuel production and consumption. There is no doubt, as the Minister said, that difficulty was experienced in parts of the country in disposing of turf last year but I do not think that that difficulty should be allowed to intimidate the Minister or prevent him from going ahead with turf production. There will always be some little difficulties of distribution but I think with energetic action on the part of the Department they can be overcome. Government and local authority institutions should be compelled to use native fuel. There would be no real difficulty about it and there should not be any objection. As the Minister pointed out by way of interruption, we have anthracite which is superior to anything produced in the world. We also have turf of very high quality and the quality, with the development of the industry, will tend to improve year by year.
Many speakers referred to the proposals of the trade union organisations for increased remuneration for their members. This is a problem which should be tackled right now by the Government and the trade union leaders with a view to reaching a satisfactory agreement. It would not be in the public interest or in the interests of the workers generally to have substantial all-round increases in wages inasmuch as such increases would upset the whole balance of prices and would create instability, insecurity, and possibly inflation. I think that everybody will agree that the trade union movement is a movement with considerable power in the country and that the leaders are entitled to be consulted on various economic questions particularly on the question of remuneration. While recognising their power in industry and commerce those trade union leaders must also recognise their responsibility, and, recognising their responsibility, they must be prepared to accept counsels of moderation. It has been suggested that a number of workers find it difficult to support their families on existing remuneration. If there is truth in that suggestion it is necessary to consider how far it goes and to how many grades of workers it applies. There are workers with various grades of wages, and the question arises whether because in certain grades workers may have difficulty in supporting large families there should be all-round increases. I think they would hardly be justifiable. There is a wide difference between the wages paid in certain industries and certain branches of industries to skilled workers and to unskilled workers. The question should be approached with a view to relieving real hardship where it exists rather than having, an inflation of wages generally, leading as it would to an increase in prices. If he is forced to consider this matter in the near future there is another matter which the Minister must also consider, that is, whether instead of all-round increased wages he would consider increasing family allowances. That would relieve those who are hardest pressed, that is, those with large families, and in this way the whole problem might be relieved.
In this connection I was recently invited to a meeting convened by the Dublin meat trade which was representative not only of those engaged in the victualling business but of the consumers, through the Housewives' Association. The whole question of the control of meat prices was considered and a case was made by the victuallers which I think would be very difficult to answer. The case was that the controlled maximum price of meat to-day was based on a certain price paid for cattle when the scheme was introduced in 1947. The price then was 88/10, while to-day, as we know, the price is well over 105/-, and it does not seem to be equitable to expect that a maximum price based on 88/10 would be fair to the victuallers when the price of cattle has increased to 105/-. It is necessary, I think, to safeguard the consumers as far as possible, but, at the same time, it is not desirable to ask one particular section of the community to provide a subsidy in order to keep the price at a low level.
The Irish Housewives' Association heard the case made by the victuallers and agreed there was a case for investigation, and a unanimous decision was taken by the meeting that the Government be asked to investigate the case put up by the victualling trade. I think that there is no answer to such a demand, and such an investigation should be carried out, with a view to seeing how some relief could be given to that trade without imposing any unjust burden on the consumers. That is a reasonable request and one which ought to be given immediate attention. It is utterly unfair to penalise one section of the community. It may be that those engaged in the distribution of meat are not as large a section as the consumers, but there is never any justification for a Government, simply because they are dealing with a small section, to deal with that section unjustly. There is a moral obligation on the Government to be absolutely fair and just to all sections of the community, and, when a reasonable case, based on facts and figures, is put to the Minister, he should examine it and see if justice can be done.
The Minister referred rather briefly to the development work in the Avoca mine fields of County Wicklow and suggested that, as far as the development has gone, he is unable to decide what the result will be. I should like the Minister to speed up the work of development and exploration in that district, with a view to ascertaining definitely the value of the deposits in the area. It is undesirable to have the matter undecided for a long period. It may be that workers may get disheartened, may think that the industry will never become really productive and may transfer their skill to some other industry or country. That would be most undesirable. Those of us who read the Sunday Independent have seen hints that there are various private enterprises deeply interested in our mineral deposits, and it is essential, as far as this mine field is concerned, that the work of exploration should be speeded up, so that we may know to what extent the industry is capable of being made permanently productive and of becoming a permanent source of employment.
I was interested in the figures given by the Minister when introducing the Estimate, and particularly those in relation to the very large gap between our imports and exports. It is true that the gap has been somewhat narrowed during the past year, but it is still very substantial. We are still importing £67,000,000 worth of goods more than we are exporting and one remarkable thing is that, while we import £55,000,000 worth of goods from countries outside Great Britain and the Six Counties, we have succeeded in exporting to these countries only £6,000,000 worth of goods. That is a condition which has to be improved somewhat. Steps should be taken, if necessary, to restrict further the imports from these countries, having regard to the limited amount they take from us. In addition or, perhaps as an alternative, direct Government action should be taken to encourage exports. If necessary, industrial producers should be required to co-operate together so as to capture external markets, and, if necessary, the State should assist by way of credit facilities for the development of export trade.
This is a matter which cannot be allowed to drift. The gap between our exports and imports must be substantially narrowed and there is urgent need for action in this regard. I am not satisfied that sufficient is being done. I have not been too enthusiastic about the Industrial Development Authority, because my opinion of boards and committees is that they usually spend too much time debating problems rather than taking definite action. I am all for a board, an impartial board, where it is a matter of deciding some particular questions of equity or justice as between one citizen and another, but, when it comes to getting work done, you have to rely, in the main, on the individual. For that reason, I am not too optimistic that the board will achieve very great results. In the main, the patriotism and courage of our business people, farmers and the people who have money to invest and the skill of our workers are our greatest assets in the development of Irish industry.
With regard to the production of cement, there is an aspect of the question which has occurred to me. I wonder if the Minister has accurately estimated this country's requirements of cement. I believe that the production of cement will increase enormously. We must consider housing, building of institutions of every kind and roadmaking as users of cement. I believe that the concrete road will, to a considerable extent, take the place of the tarred road. There are also the needs of farms to be considered. They are being emphasised by the rehabilitation scheme for which enormous quantities of drain pipes are required. If we are to go on to improve fencing and farm buildings enormous quantities of cement will be required. I am not sure that the Minister has not been too modest in his estimate of our requirements of cement. The market is almost unlimited.
In conclusion, I want to emphasise the need for small, light industries which should be distributed throughout the country. I am in complete agreement with those who have stressed the need for heavy industries, the production of steel, fuel and the development of electricity, but there is also great need to induce the smaller producing units and the small towns and villages to establish light industries for the production of goods which are at present imported and which we are capable of producing.
I was discussing the question of anthracite with a person in the mining industry. I referred to the increasing use of anthracite in the anthracite cookers which are making their way into such a large number of rural and urban homes. I asked that person did he consider that imported cookers represented value for the price paid for them. He expressed the opinion—and I am giving it to the Minister now as the opinion of a business man deeply interested in the matter—that such anthracite cookers could be produced in this country at half the cost at which they are imported. That may be a slight exaggeration, but I think we could produce many very useful household articles at a much lower cost than that at which they are imported. Washing machines and other up-to-date gadgets which are very desirable as labour-saving devices in the home are in the main imported at a fairly high price. We should go in for these lines of production. Such labour-saving machines are as important in the home as household furniture. They are even more important inasmuch as they reduce the daily labour of the housewife. Last night I constructed a machine for washing potatoes and vegetables which worked perfectly. If some Irish manufacturer would take up the production of such an article and put it on the market he would be able to sell it at a reasonable price and it would be of immense benefit to householders. There is an unlimited field for the development of industrial gadgets and goods of every kind. Through the co-operation of the Minister's Department and the Department of Education, as far as it relates to technical education, our young people should be induced to take an active interest in skilled industrial work and in invention. So far as a nation we have not been very prominent as inventors. Our inventive genius has been employed to a great extent in the invention of excuses for not doing anything worth while. Our people are by nature imaginative, and if our young people's interest were aroused in the production of machines similar to those imported, I am quite certain that they would develop new ideas which would give a great fillip to industrial enterprise.
For too long, we have adopted the slave mind attitude that our people are inferior, particularly as regards skilled work, to the people of other countries. There is no truth whatever in that suggestion. If anything, our people are superior. It is history that accounts for our country being somewhat backward. As far as resources are concerned, we have a vast amount of raw materials for various lines of production. There is no reason why we should import more than a trifle of fuel. There is no reason why we should import very much paper. There is no reason why we should import flour. I suppose the importation of flour is only a temporary matter and that the necessity for it will be obviated in the near future.
I hope that the Minister will be successful in avoiding any upset in our economic position or any disruption through excessive demands for increased remuneration. An attempt should be made to stabilise wages generally while securing, as far as possible, that wages will purchase more. I have thrown out a suggestion that the position of those workers who feel that they are not able to meet their present demands might be relieved through an increase in family allowances. Whatever is done, we ought to appeal for goodwill, restraint and common sense on the part of those who control the trade union movement. We ought also to demand from those who control the trade union movement absolute control, or at least, a greater measure of control over their movement so as to render impossible such things as lightning strikes which are of no real benefit to the workers generally but which completely undermine and almost destroy industrial effort and which inflict tremendous hardship on the public. I think public opinion should be organised against such disruptive tactics and the responsible leaders of the trade union movement should be asked to give their wholehearted co-operation in preventing such strikes. At the same time, the question of improving the standard of living of the workers should be made a matter of painstaking investigation and consultation between the Government and the leaders of the trade union movement.
