Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 17 Apr 1956

Vol. 156 No. 4

Imposition of Duties (Confirmation of Orders) Bill, 1956—Second and Subsequent Stages.

Minister for Industry and Commerce (Mr. Norton)

I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. The purpose of the Bill, as set out in the explanatory memorandum which I have circulated to Deputies, is to confirm 12 Orders made by the Government under the Emergency Imposition of Duties Act, 1932. The commodities covered by the Orders are as follows:—(1) slotted metal angles; (2) glucose; (3) tableware made of earthenware; (4) artificial textile and union fabrics; (5) cellulose varnish and lacquer; (6) tipping gears for commercial motor vehicles; (7) blockboard; (8) leathercloth; (9) frilled or hemmed knitted fabrics; (10) unbound books; (11) religious books; (12) linen ply yarn and single shoe thread.

The manufacture of slotted metal angles commenced in 1952 and the duty was imposed in order to afford a measure of protection for the industry. These articles are used for a wide variety of purposes including the making of shelving, racks, metal furniture, etc. The production of glucose has been undertaken by Ceimicí Teoranta. The alcohol factories at Labbadish, County Donegal, and Corroy, County Mayo, have been adapted for the production of starch and the conversion of starch into glucose has been undertaken at Corroy.

The minimum specific duty on tableware made of earthenware was reduced from 1/6 full (1/- preferential) the article, to 9d. full (6d. preferential) the article, and certain articles which had been caught by the duty and for which duty-free licences were being issued freely were excluded from the scope of the duty. At my request the Industrial Development Authority undertook a review of the pottery industry and they found that the higher rate of duty imposed in 1953 had the effect of reducing the overall demand for earthenware. They felt that if a greater variety of earthenware was available this would provide a stimulus to the trade which would increase the overall demand including the demand for Irish tableware. The authority considered that the existing rate of duty was higher than necessary and recommended that the duty should be reduced and I accepted this recommendation.

The Order amending the duty on woven artificial textile and union fabrics arose out of a threat to local manufacturers from imports from the Far East of low priced cloths which were designed specifically to evade the duty.

In 1932 a duty was imposed on varnish at the rate of 7/6 full (5/- preferential) per gallon or 3/- full (2/- preferential) per lb. according to the form in which the varnish was imported. This duty was suspended in 1943 owing to the general scarcity of supplies. It was restored in December last for the protection of the home industry but its scope was altered to apply to clear cellulose lacquer and cellulose varnish so as to facilitate administration. The former rate of duty was changed to 75 per cent. full (50 per cent. United Kingdom and Canada) ad valorem to bring the protection into line with current money values. The scope of the duty also includes certain preparations of cellulose nitrate which the Irish firms are making and which are technically cellulose lacquer in varying degrees of concentration.

The manufacture of tipping gears for commercial motor vehicles commenced recently at Portumna. These goods were liable under the general motor car duties to rates of duty varying from nil to 33? per cent. ad valorem, dependent upon the degree of assembly at importation. It was decided to afford the new industry effective protection by imposing a duty of 50 per cent. full (33? per cent. United Kingdom and Canada) ad valorem on all tipping gears and parts thereof.

The production of blockboard commenced recently and the duty was imposed to afford protection for this new industry. Blockboard is used in the furniture trade and for domestic fittings, etc. It is of interest to note that native timber is being used to a substantial extent in the manufacture of blockboard. The manufacture of leathercloth was undertaken recently at Trim and the duty was imposed for the protection of this industry, which bases its production on cotton woven in the Irish mills.

The duty on knitted fabric (made of rayon) was being evaded by the importation of frilled, hemmed or stitched knitted fabric which is also manufactured in this country and a new duty on frilled etc. fabric was imposed to stop this evasion. The Order also gives permanent effect to the reduction in the duty on knitted fabric which was made in 1951 by an Order under the Supplies and Services Act, 1946. The duty on printed matter was amended to exclude from its scope unbound books and the duty on religious books was amended to confine its scope to the articles which are produced here, including unbound religious books.

The protection for the Irish firm producing linen thread and ply yarn was found to be defective and the Order made in respect of linen ply yarn was designed to deal with this situation. The duty on single shoe thread of 1/6 per lb. (flat) was suspended in 1944 when the material was in short supply. It has now been restored to protect the home industry and the rate changed to 60 per cent. full (40 per cent. United Kingdom and Canada) ad valorem. I think these are the items which have been covered generally by the Order.

Mr. Lemass

I do not think the Minister gave any explanation of the reasons which led to the decision to increase the customs duty on glucose. I would be interested to know what these reasons were. I gathered from the observations of the Minister that the reduction in the duty upon tableware made from earthenware followed on the submission of a report from the Industrial Development Authority which carried out a review of the industry. Is it intended that the report of the Industrial Development Authority will be made available to Deputies? If not, will the Minister give us a summary of the conclusions of the Industrial Development Authority and of the reasons which they advanced for recommending a reduction of the duty?

Mr. O'Hara

The Minister in his remarks made reference to the Corroy factory which had changed over from the production of alcohol to glucose. I would like if the Minister would intimate in his reply when the Corroy factory proposes to go into the production of glucose. I am personally not aware that this factory is at present engaged in the new production. I would like also to hear the Minister say that this industry is entitled to protection, and that such protection will be afforded it in the present measure. The farmers of County Mayo are now swinging into the production of certain varieties of potatoes that would be ideal for the production of glucose and it will be welcome news to those farmers to know that their industry is being protected.

Mr. Norton

I have not got the information which Deputy O'Hara requires but if he is interested I will undertake to have the matter examined and will communicate with him in the course of a few days. On the question of glucose, it was felt necessary that this duty be imposed in order to protect the manufacture and sale of glucose by Ceimicí, Teoranta. That was necessary because it was clear that the countries manufacturing glucose were selling on their home market, which was protected, at a much higher price than their glucose was selling on the Irish market. They were getting the highest possible price in their own country and were selling it here at a dumped price. As Ceimicí, Teoranta, had been asked to undertake the manufacture and sale of glucose here, they could not possibly do it against dumping from other countries. It was therefore necessary to impose this protection to ensure that Ceimicí Teoranta, could compete against the dumped products. I am sure that Deputy Lemass would agree that that was a situation which ought to be dealt with and it was dealt with by the imposition of this duty.

On the question of the reduction of duty on earthenware products, I asked the Industrial Development Authority to undertake an examination on the effect of tariffs on this industry from the standpoint of employment and consumer interest and of the national requirements. I received a report from the Industrial Development Authority on their examination of the pottery industry. There is one large firm engaged in that industry and it would be undesirable that the report of the Industrial Development Authority should be made public because it would disclose the private affairs of that company.

The Industrial Development Authority were of opinion that the minimum rates of duty were too high. The ad valorem rate was left as it was. The effect of imposing the minimum rate was, not to stimulate the demand for pottery, but rather it was found that the sales of these products had fallen. The Industrial Development Authority, which examined the matter and gave to the firms concerned an opportunity of stating their case, came to the conclusion that the reduction of the minimum duty was desirable. The effect sought was to stimulate a greater demand for earthenware and consequently a greater demand for the products of the Irish pottery industry.

Mr. Lemass

Will the Minister say if the firm concerned was given an opportunity of seeing the recommendation of the Industrial Development Authority, and making representations to him?

Mr. Norton

That has not been the procedure adopted in any of these cases. The companies concerned are given an opportunity of making their case freely and fully. The Industrial Development Authority, which is an Irish body, are concerned with the development of industry and could be relied upon to protect the interests of the industry and the interests of the consumer. The particular situation that we had was that the body examined the position and submitted their report to the Minister. I accepted the recommendation because in this instance I think the recommendation was a reasonable one and the reasonableness of it was not subsequently disputed by the firms concerned. Since the recommendation was made and accepted by me, no representations have been made to me by the firm concerned.

Mr. Lemass

Did the firm know what the recommendation was?

Mr. Norton

They knew that the Industrial Development Authority was making its report to me.

Mr. Lemass

The Minister said that no representations were made by the firms concerned. Did the firm know what the recommendation was?

Mr. Norton

Of course not. The Industrial Development Authority was asked to undertake this examination. They gave the firms concerned an opportunity of putting forward their case fully. The Industrial Development Authority is an Irish body which is not hostile to Irish industry but is indeed partial to it. The purpose of the authority is to get Irish industry established and to assist Irish industry. It may therefore be assumed that a body so constituted would look after the interests of Irish industry. The Industrial Development Authority made its recommendation to me and, after considering that recommendation, I accepted it. Since then, the firm concerned, which knows what has happened, has not made a single representation to me protesting against the unreasonableness of the recommendation. That must be taken as evidence that the firm does not regard the recommendation as something that is seriously injurious, or, indeed, as something that is injurious to it at all.

Question put and agreed to.

Agreed to take remaining stages to-day.

Bill put through Committee, reported without amendment, received for final consideration and passed.

An Ceann Comhairle

This is a Money Bill for the purposes of Article 22 of the Constitution.