asked the Minister for Finance the name of the company which now prints labels for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (sample supplied).
17.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Label Printing Company.
16.
asked the Minister for Finance the name of the company which now prints labels for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs (sample supplied).
I propose, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 16 and 17 together.
It is not the practice to disclose the names of individual suppliers of Government stationery.
Will the Minister state if the labels are being printed in this country and, if not, the name of the country in which they are printed?
Some are printed here and are supplied by a firm that has been supplying them for a number of years, long before the present administration took up office.
Is the Minister saying that labels that were previously printed here, such as the Department of Agriculture "Irish Certified Seed" label, are now being printed in England? These used be printed by the Eagle Printing Company in Cork and provided employment for six men for six months each year.
It is a convention here that we do not refer to individuals or firms who are outside the House.
Is it not worth casting aside convention when jobs of Irish men are at stake? To hell with convention.
I suppose it does not matter that these men are out of work and, perhaps, hungry.
The position is as I have stated. Incidentally, the Deputy is referring, I think, to some labels relative to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
I supplied a copy of the label to the Minister with the question.
I understand that the label to which the Deputy refers is printed and manufactured in Ireland.
I asked by way of supplementary if the Minister would state the country in which these labels were being printed. The Minister told me that, while some of them are printed here, others are printed elsewhere. During the by-election campaign the workers concerned informed me that the labels are being printed in England.
I am afraid that the Deputy was misinformed. The labels used by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries are printed in Ireland.
All of them?
To my knowledge, yes.
There were two questions involved. One concerned a label which is used by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and the other concerns a label used by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. Is the Minister saying that both labels are printed in this country?
No. The Posts and Telegraphs' labels to which the Deputy refers are not printed in this country.
Let the Minister not be evasive.
Has the Minister not given the Deputy the information?
A Cheann Comhairle, perhaps you would control that Arab up at the back.
Order, please.
The labels in question are being produced for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs by the same firm that have been producing them for a number of years.
Is the firm concerned a firm other than one established in this country? Is the label for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs being printed in this country?
I have told the Deputy that the label in question is being printed by a firm abroad that have been producing these labels for the Department for a number of years. As many as 12 different orders were placed with this firm in the 12 months preceding this Government's coming to office.
Deputy Molloy should ask Deputy Collins about that.
Is the Minister saying that no Irish company are competent to print these labels?
I am not saving that. I did not suggest that.
Will the Minister ensure that employment is protected by transferring this order back to an Irish firm?
The Deputy might like to ask his colleague, Deputy Collins, why 12 orders were placed with the firm to which Deputy Molloy is now objecting in the 12 months prior to February, 1973?
The Minister is missing my point.
Deliberately.
I have allowed a lot of latitude on this question. A final supplementary, please.
The point I am interested in is employment at present and in the future. I would ask the Minister to ensure that all such contracts are given to Irish companies and that the labels are printed in Ireland when there are companies here competent of executing the work.
As the Deputy served as Minister for Local Government he must be aware of the regulations which have to be observed in relation to the purchase of materials by Departments. All orders must be placed on the basis of competitive tender and there is an advantage built into the regulations in so far as Irish firms are concerned in that foreign firms are penalised to the extent of 18 per cent of the value of any tender which they make. It was on the basis of this competitive tender that the order referred to was placed.
The Minister is not supposed to disclose that information.
The Minister is showing scant interest in the unemployment situation.