Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Footwear Industry. – Dáil Éireann (19th Dáil) – Wednesday, 31 Mar 1971

Mr. Treacy

asked the Taoiseach if he will give particulars concerning the volume of imports of footwear in each of the years 1960 to 1969, inclusive, and in each month in 1970 and 1971 to date, indicating the type of footwear, the country of origin, the value and the average cost per pair.

2.

Mr. Treacy

asked the Taoiseach if he will state the volume of Irish footwear exported in each year from 1960 to 1969, inclusive, and in each month in 1970 and 1971 to date, indicating the type of footwear, the value and the country of destination.

3.

Mr. Treacy

asked the Taoiseach the amount of imported materials and component parts, i.e. uppers made up or in part, heels, soles, insoles, linings, lasts, toe puffs, stiffeners, etc., used for the manufacture of footwear, indicating the country of origin, the volume in pairs and the value in each of the years 1960 to 1969 and in each month in 1970 and 1971, to date.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Taoiseach (Mr. Andrews)

With your permission, Sir, I propose to take Questions Nos. 1, 2 and 3 together and to circulate in the Official Report a statement showing the value of imports and exports of footwear and the value of imports of prepared parts of footwear in each year from 1960 to 1969 and in each month from January, 1970 to January, 1971 the latest period for which the figures are available. Detailed annual statistics relating to imports and exports of various types of footwear and of imports of parts of footwear showing countries of origin or destination and quantities and values are published in the annual volume "External Trade Statistics" (called "Trade & Shipping Statistics" prior to 1967) while a considerable amount of information of a similar kind is given monthly in the issues of "Trade Statistics of Ireland". As the amount of data involved is very large and is to a large extent already available in published form I do not consider that the work involved in reproducing it again would be justified.

Following is the statement:

Imports and Exports of footwear in the years 1960 to 1969, in each month of 1970 and in January, 1971

	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Imports	344	393	451	522	640	591	538	633	897	1,451
Exports	1,714	2,054	1,824	2,003	2,779	2,454	2,560	2,605	3,011	3,764

							1970						1971
	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December	January
	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Imports	95	175	171	199	122	129	218	209	278	286	232	243	175
Exports	352	342	223	239	257	225	304	338	496	385	438	363	387

Imports of prepared parts of footwear in the years 1960 to 1969, in each month of 1970 and in January 1971

1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
288	331	363	390	434	324	342	415	491	710

1970	1971
January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December	January
£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
78	67	63	85	68	54	71	54	64	81	79	76	96

4.

Mr. Treacy

asked the Taoiseach if he will state the numbers employed in the manufacture of footwear in each year from 1960 to 1970 inclusive and up to the latest date in 1971 for which figures are available; and if he will indicate the number of male and female workers separately.

Mr. Andrews

With your permission, Sir, I propose to circulate in the Official Report a statement giving the data requested for a week in October or September of each of the years 1960-1970 inclusive together with the estimates for December, 1970 which are the latest figures available.

Following is the statement:

NUMBERS of persons engaged in the Boot and Shoe (Wholesale factories) industry in a week in October of the years 1960 to 1968 and in September 1969 and September and December 1970.

Period	Persons engaged*
Males	Females	Total
	Number
October 1960	2,824	2,966	5,790
,, 1961	2,863	3,112	5,975
,, 1962	2,767	2,998	5,765
,, 1963	2,857	3,135	5,992
,, 1964	2,897	3,426	6,323
October 1965	2,824	3,371	6,195
,, 1966	2,791	3,324	6,115
,, 1967	2,436	3,133	5,569
,, 1968	2,473	3,189	5,662
September 1969†	2,600	3,400	6,000
,, 1970†	2,600	3,200	5,800
December1970†	2,500	3,200	5,700

*Including administrative, clerical and technical staff and industrial workers but excluding outside piece-workers.

†Data estimated and subject to revision in the light of the results of the Annual Censuses of Industrial Production.

5.

Mr. Treacy

asked the Taoiseach if he will give particulars concerning the volume of production of Irish footwear of various types in each year from 1960 to 1970, inclusive, and the most up-to-date figures for 1971.

Mr. Andrews

With your permission, Sir, I propose to circulate in the Official Report a statement showing the particulars requested for each of the years 1960 to 1970, which is the latest period for which the data are available.

Following is the statement:

Boot and Shoe (Wholesale factories) Industry

Quantities of footwear manufactured in each of the years 1960 to 1970

Description	1960	1961	1962	1963
Dozen pairs
Boots and shoes wholly or mainly of leather or skin in the upper:—
Men's	— Heavy	20,282	19,500	20,839	18,726
,,	— Light	75,429	82,151	93,943	109,062
Boys'	— Heavy	15,412	18,594	17,964	17,374
,,	— Light	16,941	16,779	15,799	18,242
Women's	— Heavy	2,022	1,843	1,391	2,252
,,	— Light	223,200	239,226	234,858	261,237
Girls'	— Light	31,846	50,305	30,751	39,648
Children's		13,585	11,476	14,213	15,390
Boots and shoes not of leather or skin in the upper
	10,871	7,455	3,189	538
Slippers		41,868	51,069	56,058	62,761
Sandals		76,203	82,329	63,715	59,233

Description*	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969†	1970†
	Dozen Pairs
Leather footwear:
Men's:
Welted boots	2,333	2,969	1,612	1,295	275	23,720	30,830
Welted shoes	39,310	35,595	27,007	22,956	18,570
Cemented boots	1,057	5,608	4,023	2,282	4,735	31,420	31,390
Cemented shoes	52,448	42,979	31,373	25,247	22,008
Working boots	11,897	11,367	8,056	6,131	5,575	6,500	8,340
Vulcanised boots and shoes	40,523	54,237	71,060	63,176	70,672	84,310	73,550
Other (including football boots)	6,572	7,285	10,057	17,522	22,908	38,070	41,500
Women's:
Fashion shoes	177,851	178,999	171,852	166,655	167,739	165,630	104,530
Casual shoes	73,317	65,615	63,819	58,152	46,017	47,980	46,320
Bootees	37,162	25,267	29,320	32,481	32,478	41,200	39,860
Other	5,147	7,862	4,158	6,770	6,230	11,520	14,740
Boys' and youths':
Vulcanised boots and shoes	29,604	26,569	29,843	33,525	38,663	38,770	41,340
Other (including football boots)	15,292	14,563	18,375	17,883	27,830	27,150	22,900
Girls' and maids':
Vulcanised shoes	11,157	3,781	5,345	6,545	3,525	11,820	12,560
Bootees	2,256	2,211	2,713	3,428	4,048	2,030	3,030
Other	26,134	31,714	30,134	33,624	32,917	30,740	25,810
Infants' (shoes and bootees)	21,522	22,260	21,908	23,652	19,678	23,340	19,630
Sandals	51,222	51,656	62,172	60,579	63,700	61,920	74,350
Slippers	79,473	72,423	74,043	82,950	67,469	60,710	57,380
Other footwear	2,005	1,593	6,008	18,363	20,053	29,170	57,050

*The descriptions for which the particulars were collected were altered in 1964.

†Provisional.

Mr. Treacy

Would the Parliamentary Secretary not agree that the figures before him reveal a startling increase in the volume of imports amounting to over one million pairs since the removal of the quota last July? Do they not also reveal a reduction in production and in exports generally and an intimation of closures and closures to come in shoe centres and, in the circumstances, what is he prepared to do in the matter to arrest this sorry trend which threatens the existence of one of our finest industries, the boot and shoe industry?

Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 31 Mar 1971