asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he is aware (a) that C.I.E. have placed an order with the Metropolitan Camel Carriage Works, Birmingham, for the manufacture and importation into Ireland of 100 welded triangular under-frames for timber trucks, and (b) that such frames were always, and can be, manufactured at the railway works at Inchicore; and, if so, when, if at all, he sanctioned the placing of this order by the company.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - C.I.E. Orders.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he is aware (a) that C.I.E. have placed an order with a continental firm for the manufacture and importation into Ireland of 3,000 steel wagon under-frames, and (b) that such frames were always, and can be, manufactured at the railway works at Inchicore; and, if so, when, if at all, he sanctioned the placing of this order by the company.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he is aware (a) that C.I.E. have placed an order with the Metropolitan Camel Carriage Works, Birmingham, for the manufacture and importation into Ireland of 400 welded triangular under-frames for covered goods wagons, and (b) that such frames were always, and can be, manufactured at the railway works at Inchicore; and, if so, when, if at all, he sanctioned the placing of this order by the company.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he is aware (a) that C.I.E. have placed an order with Messrs. John Thompson, Limited, Wolverhampton, for the manufacture and importation into Ireland of 56 railway passenger carriage under-frames, and (b) that such under-frames were always, and can be, manufactured at the railway works at Inchicore; and, if so, when, if at all, he sanctioned the placing of this order by the company.
I propose with the consent of the Ceann Comhairle to take Questions Nos. 7, 8, 9 and 10 together. These are matters of day-to-day administration and my sanction for transactions of the nature referred to is not required. My policy is, however, to have as much work as possible done in the board's workshops and I have emphasised this to the board on a number of occasions. I propose, therefore, to make inquiries from the board as to the circumstances obtaining in the matters referred to in the Deputy's questions.
Does the Minister seriously state that his Department was not consulted before this very large quantity of material, which could have been manufactured here, was ordered and imported from the Continent? Furthermore, does the Minister not consider that, having regard to the adverse balance of trade and to the serious unemployment position arising in the Inchicore Works as a result of these imports, it is a matter upon which he should have been consulted by the C.I.E. board?
This type of work generally comes within the administration of C.I.E. The board having been appointed for the purpose of carrying on the railway undertaking, there is no obligation on the company to consult me on this matter. There is an obligation in respect of general governmental direction in the matter of policy which in this field is that they should produce as much of the requirements as is economically possible at their own workshops. I do not want to prejudge the results of my inquiry into these matters by attempting at this stage to hazard a guess as to what happened. I prefer, therefore, to wait until I have an opportunity of discussing these matters in detail with the company.
Can the Minister state whether he has confirmed that these orders have, in fact, been placed by C.I.E.?
I do not think that is in dispute at all. There is no doubt that they have been ordered.
It is admitted that they have been ordered? Can the Minister state what is the total value of these orders?
I cannot run the C.I.E. railway and I am not going to try to do it. There is a board there for that purpose. The board has certain functions and the functions are set down in the Act passed by this House. I have limited functions in that regard. Within the limited functions I have, I have directed the board that, as far as it is economically possible, they should get all the work they require done at their own workshops. I cannot prejudge the results of my inquiries until I get this discussion with the company on the matter.
Does the Minister not consider it is part of the functions of his Department and of this House to ensure that vast quantities of material, which could be manufactured here, are not imported with moneys voted by this House to C.I.E.?
To answer that question involves, without discussing the matter with the company, that I must now come to a decision. I prefer to discuss the matter with the company. The Deputy can put down a question after I have done so.
Could the Minister indicate when he hopes to have a reply from C.I.E., having regard to the fact that I wrote at least three letters to the Minister in the course of the last three months?
Every letter the Deputy wrote to me was used by me to emphasise that, whenever the occasion arose, my desire was that as much work as possible should be carried out in the C.I.E. workshops. That will continue to be my policy whether I get letters from the Deputy or not.
Does that imply that the board ignored the representations made by the Minister?
That is an entirely separate matter.
That would involve my prejudging the matter.
Could the Minister state when he hopes C.I.E. will be kind enough to supply him with the information?
If the Deputy puts down another question in a fortnight's time, I hope to have an answer.
A fortnight?
I understand the House will meet next week and the week after. I cannot get it next week and if the Deputy wants three or four days' notice in regard to the question, he will hardly get the answer earlier than the following week.