asked the Taoiseach if he will state (a) the total number of industrial concerns manufacturing transportable goods in 1952 or the nearest available date which are protected either by tariffs or import restrictions; (b) the total volume of production of such industrial concerns; (c) the total number of industrial concerns manufacturing transportable goods in 1952 or the nearest available date which are not in any way protected, and (d) the total volume of production of such industrial concerns.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Transportable Goods Statistics.
As the Deputy is no doubt aware, tariffs and import restrictions apply to individual commodities and not to particular concerns. Without a detailed examination of the exact type of commodity produced by each establishment, it is not possible to state the total number of industrial concerns producing transportable goods which engage in the production of any commodities which are protected by tariffs or import restrictions. To determine the number of such concerns would be an exceedingly onerous task for which the information available from the Census of Industrial Production would be completely inadequate. Even if the requisite detailed particulars were available, in view of the multiplicity of commodities produced by many concerns in single establishments and of the fact that some of these commodities may be subject to import tariffs and restrictions and some of them may not, I do not consider that any useful purpose would be served by aggregating the value of the output of concerns which produce any commodities of the nature specified since the total value of such output would be far greater than that of the protected commodities.