asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the amount of footwear in pairs which will be imported under licence during the coming year; and what qualifications are necessary to obtain such a licence.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Imports of Footwear.
11.
It was announced in the public Press on 2nd December, 1960, that the Government had appointed an import quota of 125,000 pairs of leather footwear for the period 1st January, 1961, to 31st December, 1961, and that in addition, applications for supplementary licences to import footwear would be considered.
I am not in a position at this stage to indicate the quantity of additional footwear for which supplementary licences may be granted.
Licences to import leather footwear may be granted only to persons whose names are entered in the Register of Importers maintained in accordance with the Leather Footwear Quota Order. The Control of Imports (Amendment) Act, 1937, provides that an applicant for registration must carry on or propose to carry on a business in connection with which or as part of which it is, in the opinion of the Minister, necessary or usual to import goods of a description to which the relevant Quota Order applies. For a number of years past it has been the practice to grant registration to new applicants only in the cases of traders engaged in the wholesale distribution of leather footwear.
Would the Minister say is there no hope for a man who has started a new business and is not yet a wholesaler getting an import licence?
According to the answer I have given, he must satisfy the Minister that he proposes to enter the wholesale business.
Is the Minister aware that where a man has started a new business, has gone to many Irish manufacturers, has been refused boots and has applied to the Minister's Department for an import licence, he has been refused the licence?
That is a particular case. The Question is general.
Nobody has the right to get a licence unless he is in the wholesale trade.
The Deputy is now dealing with a particular matter.