asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will inquire into the cause of the present scarcity of scrap lead and find out why it is in such short supply in some areas.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Supply of Scrap Lead.
Various causes have contributed to the growing shortage of scrap lead and, so far as I am aware, the principal factors are the gradual substitution of copper and other metals for lead which has been going on for many years in the building industry, and the scarcity of pig lead from which this country, in common with most others, has suffered for the past ten or 12 years. The incidence of the shortage in any particular area will obviously be governed by the extent to which the demolition of old buildings—the main source of scrap lead— has taken place in the area.