I want to share with some of the Deputies who spoke the high appraisal of the work of Córas Tráchtála Teoranta since it was founded. I have not had as much experience of its workings as Deputy Cosgrave or Deputy Norton, both of whom paid tribute to Córas Tráchtála, but in my short experience of the Department of Industry and Commerce, I have seen tribute paid to it on a surprisingly large number of occasions, in the course of memoranda that have been coming before me, on interviews of officials of the Department with people who are engaged, or who hope to be engaged, in export business. Deputy Norton is, no doubt, familiar with these memoranda. The tributes that have been paid are very high and, certainly, from the point of view of Córas Tráchtála, are very satisfactory in general. Deputy Cosgrave who spoke first from the other side, asked how the new Company was to be financed.
Export Promotion Bill, 1959—Second Stage (Resumed).
The new Board.
I am sorry—the new Board. The position is that £1,000,000 will be provided by the Exchequer. The sum is, in fact, limited to £1,000,000. Hitherto, the Company was given funds yearly out of voted money. The current provision is for £255,000 and so it is anticipated that the £1,000,000 provided should last roughly for a period of four years. If, at the end of that period, the necessity for the continuance of the Board's activities will have been proved—and I am sure it will have been—I, or somebody else, will have to come back to this House to secure further financial provision for it. As far as the sum of £255,000 in the Estimates is concerned, the amount of the unexpended Vote will be surrendered to the Exchequer and will form part of the £1,000,000 provided under this Bill.
Deputy Cosgrave also suggested, though I could not really understand the import of his remarks, that the activities of the Government in certain respects retarded the work of Córas Tráchtála, and he referred in particular to whiskey exports. It is very difficult to understand how the level of taxation on whiskey for sale in this country would retard the export of whiskey to other countries and, in particular, to the dollar countries. I think it is a well-established principle that in order to achieve export capacity, an exporting company would require to have a well-established market in the home country, that is, here in Ireland. Nobody can doubt that the whiskey distillers have such a market. It may be that the consumption of whiskey has fallen off to some extent in recent years. I have not got the figures to show that, but, nevertheless, I believe the distillers have a market in Ireland to such an extent as will not hinder their capacity to export.
As Deputies know, there was provision in the 1958 Budget for assistance to Córas Tráchtála through the distillers themselves to enable a campaign of publicity to be undertaken to promote an increase in the sale of Irish whiskey in the United States. In the original Estimate for 1958-59, the sum provided was about £30,000 and to that was added £25,000 provided by way of rebate of duty on whiskey, making in all, a provision of £55,000 in that year. In the current year, the sum provided for the boosting of sales of whiskey in the United States is £80,000.
Deputy Norton rightly commented that no organisation had, to any appreciable extent, undertaken market research of their own volition and said for that reason it was very important that the services of Córas Tráchtála should be available. I agree with him there but I would also urge on individual companies that, in so far as they can afford it themselves, they should engage in that market research. They should equip some of their executives with technical knowledge, and it is well known that there are many techniques in selling goods abroad. I believe that they should do that in order to expand their own exporting capacity.
Deputy Norton also said that companies should rely on their own resources and should send members of their executives abroad in order to make personal contacts. In passing, I should like to say that some years ago as a result of an approach by the Federation of Irish Industries and the Exporters' Federation to the High School of Commerce, as it was then, in Rathmines, and which is now the College of Commerce, a course in foreign trade was established. I myself had the pleasure of presenting the first certificate to a person who had concluded that course. Before that, I saw the syllabus of the course, and I must say I was very struck by the extent of the studies a person following that course would be required to undertake. It was most extensive and anybody who succeeded in qualifying for the certificate would certainly have had a very wide knowledge of the intricacies of foreign trade. Apart altogether from the activities of Córas Tráchtála, I would urge companies able to do so to provide themselves with such knowledge and such techniques.
Would the Minister say how many of those foreign trade diplomas were awarded?
There was only one at the time I made the presentation. That was about two years ago. I do not know if there has been any since.
I hope there have.
It certainly was a very difficult course.
To sell goods abroad is a difficult business.
Deputy Russell asked what was the necessity for the change. First of all, Córas Tráchtála had certain difficulties in so far as their services depended on voted moneys from year to year. The establishing of them into a semi-State Board will give them that security of tenure, so to speak, to enable them to plan activities over a long term.
Why does the Minister call them a semi-State Board?
It is a general term.
I thought it was a State Board.
A State Board—yes. It was discovered that Córas Tráchtála, having recruited young men of the required ability, found they were losing them to different organisations because of a certain lack of security in employment. The establishment of this Board will enable these young men to look forward to that security which they require, and it will assist Córas Tráchtála in recruiting possibly better men for the job. In addition, it certainly will assist them in retaining them in employment. I think that is one of the important things which the establishment of the Board will achieve.
I do not think that any other points were raised in the course of the debate, and again I should thank the House for the welcome that it has given to this Bill. I am sure that, encouraged by the remarks of Deputies and encouraged by the strengthening of the organisation this Bill will give, the activities of Córas Tráchtála will increase and will give a very good return to the country in general in an expansion of export trade.
Just before the Minister concludes, I should like to ask him this question: will he consider directing the attention of this, or any other Board, to the fact that sales persons representing Dutch firms, Danish firms or Italian firms, ordinarily speak the vernacular of the country where they are sent to promote sales? Would the Minister direct the attention of each Department to the fact that, desirable as it is to acquire a diploma in foreign marketing, it is infinitely more desirable to ensure that representatives of this country visiting foreign markets are equipped sufficiently to speak the vernacular of the markets to which they are sent?
I could not agree with the Deputy more and, as Minister for Education, on all appropriate occasions, I urged it on companies to ensure they had on their staffs people qualified to speak the vernacular of the countries to which they sent trade representatives, and I urged on these companies the desirability of availing of the facilities for education in foreign languages in vocational schools. That education is available very freely and certainly very cheaply and very widely. I would urge them to avail of it. I thank Deputy Dillon for directing my attention to this point which I had intended to mention in the course of my reply.