Control of Exports (Temporary Provisions) Bill, 1955—Second Stage.

Minister for Industry and Commerce (Mr. Norton)

I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. The purpose of this Bill is to give to the Minister for Industry and Commerce power to control the export of industrial goods and raw materials, and it might fairly be described as the industrial counterpart of the Agriculture and Fishery Products (Regulations of Exports) Act, 1947.

Power of the nature sought to be afforded by the Bill is already available to the Minister for Industry and Commerce under the Supplies and Services (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1946, but I have felt it desirable to provide a firmer basis for powers, the necessity for which arose largely out of the emergency conditions which prevailed from 1939 onwards.

The scope of the powers exercised under the emergency legislation has been continuously narrowed by removing from export control, as soon as it was possible to do so, goods in relation to which supply problems were no longer likely to arise. There remains, however, a short list of essential industrial raw materials, including, for example, timber, aluminium scrap and waste paper, which are still in short supply and the unrestricted export of which could seriously disrupt our industrial production and our industrial employment. These shortages can no longer be regarded as being entirely due to emergency conditions, but they serve to underline the necessity to have available powers of export control based otherwise than on the abnormal and transient situation provided for by the Supplies and Services Act. As I have already informed the Dáil, that Act will be repealed as soon as it is possible to enact the necessary permanent legislation to replace the powers still required to be exercised under it, and the present Bill may be regarded as a step in this direction.

Apart from enabling export control to be exercised over essential industrial materials which are at present in short supply, the Bill is intended also to provide the powers necessary to deal with a situation in which, because of the development of an international emergency, it might become vitally necessary to impose export restrictions at short notice, so as to avoid a disastrous drain on our supplies of essential materials. Irreparable damage could easily be done to the whole economy of the country if it were necessary, in such an eventuality, to await the enactment of special corrective legislation by the Oireachtas.

There is a third reason why it has become necessary to seek the provision of continuing powers to control exports. As part of our contribution towards international peace, it is necessary to ensure that strategic raw materials are not exported from this country to Iron Curtain countries, or that this country is not made a base for such exports. The Bill provides, accordingly, that the export of specified goods to a specified destination may be prohibited by Order.

At present, the export of sheepskin is controlled under the Sheepskin (Control of Export) Acts, 1934, and 1938, and the export of scrap iron is controlled by the Scrap Iron (Control of Export) Act, 1938. These Acts will no longer be necessary on the passing of the present Bill, and accordingly the Bill provides for their repeal.

In approaching this question of export control outside of emergency conditions, I was fully conscious of the possibility that such a power could or might be used autocratically or in such a manner as to represent an unwarranted interference with the people's rights and liberties. To minimise the risks in this direction, I have introduced into the Bill three separate safeguards. Firstly, the Bill provides that the Act shall continue in force for a period of three years and shall then expire. If experience shows that it would be desirable to continue the provisions of the measure beyond that time, it will be necessary to introduce new legislation for the purpose. Secondly, every Order made under the Act shall cease to have effect on the expiration of 12 months from its commencement. If new Orders have then to be made, the Oireachtas will be regularly reminded of the materials remaining subject to export control.

Finally, every Order made under the Act is required to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and may be annulled by resolution of either House at any time during its currency. These safeguards should satisfy even the most critical of Deputies that there is no sinister motive or intention behind this Bill. By their inclusion, the Bill may, I think, fairly be described as a noncontroversial measure, merely confirming as a separate Bill powers already resident in the Supplies and Services (Temporary Provisions) Act. I therefore commend it to the House for favourable consideration.

Mr. Childers

As the House knows, during our last period of office, we announced that we intended to repeal the emergency legislation and to provide a number of separate enactments to deal with powers which should still be reserved and, so far as we are concerned, this Bill is one of which we would approve and requires discussion mainly on the Committee Stage in regard to one or two small points.

The Minister has made it clear that the Bill has very limited powers and that there are plenty of provisions to prevent an improper use of the power to control exports.

As the Minister knows, with the exception of the need for conserving valuable raw materials, the problem for this country is to increase exports and not to control them at all. In that connection there is very little that we can discuss on a realistic basis in this Bill. Our exports have gone up since the year before the war by 33 per cent. and our imports by 40 per cent. We are not exporting enough to pay for our needs and so the Minister is not likely to use the Bill for the purpose of controlling exports.

Another problem we have is that we export 91.7 per cent. of our goods to the sterling area and we import only 62 per cent. of our goods. The balance has to be met largely from the United Kingdom sources to pay for the goods which we import from America and European areas. Although it could be said that it would be a good thing to direct our exports more to the dollar area that is not feasible because the kind of goods required in the dollar area cannot be directed there from the sterling area. The Bill is not of any service in regard to the solution of that problem.

At the present time, according to the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Industry and Commerce should be more concerned with imports than with exports. We are all rather interested to note that when we had to take some mildly corrective steps in 1952, in regard to the balance of payments, we were accused of being in conspiracy with the British Chancellor of the Exchequer. At the moment, the British Chancellor and the Minister for Finance are making speeches repeating each other, day after day. We are not making any suggestion that they are working hand in hand and we are not repeating what I regard as the loathsome propaganda which was used against us when we were in Government and when the same problem presented itself to us in a slightly different connotation. In our economic circumstances this Bill will be used only for the control of certain types of material.

The Minister referred to the control of the export of strategic material to Iron Curtain countries. We note that nearly £1,000,000 worth of grain products were recently imported from Iron Curtain countries under the aegis of the present Government although less than two years ago questions were framed and asked of us with all sorts of suggestive implications as regards the undesirability of our importing £80,000 of timber from Russia.

Mr. Norton

This is a Control of Exports Bill.

Question put and agreed to.

Committee Stage ordered for Wednesday, 30th November, 1955.

Dáil Éireann debate - Wednesday, 23 Nov 1955