asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state the number of applications for export licences for round timber which since 1st January, 1955, was (a) refused and (b) granted; and, if any were granted, the quantities involved and the circumstances which, in his view, justified the granting of licences in those cases.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Timber Export Licences.
Mr. Lemass
The number of export licences for round timber refused since 1st January, 1955, was eight. The number granted since the same date was 43, involving 20,000 tons of softwood pitprops and 1,296 hardwood logs.
Pitprops are a traditional export from this country, and licences are freely granted.
Of the 1,296 hardwood logs for which export licences were granted, 1,141 were logs grown in the Inishowen peninsula, which, because of the remoteness of the area, could not be economically disposed of in the home market; 75 were for conversion into veneers and return to this country; and 80 were logs of sycamore, oak and ash, experimentally exported for the purpose of testing the suitability of these types of Irish hardwoods for the production of veneers.