Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Footwear Imports. – Dáil Éireann (21st Dáil) – Wednesday, 29 Nov 1978

Mr. Treacy

asked the Taoiseach the amount of imported materials and component parts, that is, uppers made up or in part, heels, soles, insoles, linings, lasts, toe puffs, stiffeners and so forth, used for the manufacture of footwear, indicating the country of origin, the volume in pairs and the value in each of the years 1973 to 1978 and in each month in 1977 and 1978 to date.

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Mr. P. Lalor)

With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to circulate in the Official Report a statement showing the available data on imports of parts of footwear. The proportion of imported materials such as leather, rubber and so on, to be used for the manufacture of footwear is not separately recorded in the statistics.

Following is the statement:

Imports of parts of Footwear of all materials except Metal and Asbestos 1973 to January—August 1978

Category	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	Jan.—Aug.1978
	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000
Assemblies of uppers fixed to inner soles but without outer soles	6,183	6	2,990	7	6,642	10	8,656	20	1,062	2	430	1
Removable insoles and other removable accessories	136,185	185	78,037	173	84,368	201	122,044	251	64,801	184	37,401	134
Uppers and parts thereof other than stiffeners:—
Of leather	2,796	8	518	6	6,086	26	4,246	22	13,284	83	16,509	39
Of other materials	12,574	37	12,586	29	13,545	37	33,052	102	44,197	186	46,444	131
Other parts:—
Of leather or composition leather	64,338	96	59,230	100	60,546	106	116,328	245	117,050	326	109,003	330
Of rubber	295,131	187	209,300	235	151,482	194	255,348	354	353,868	481	227,267	424
Of other materials	1,449,582	985	1,334,162	1,266	1,229,149	1,511	1,095,882	1,633	1,063,981	1,853	604,253	1,272
Total	1,966,790	1,504	1,696,823	1,816	1,551,818	2,085	1,635,556	2,628	1,658,243	3,115	1,041,307	2,331

Imports of parts of Footwear of all materials except Metal Asbestos, in the months of 1977.

Category	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000
Assemblies of uppers fixed to inner soles but without outer soles	—	—	—	—	212	0	—	—	850	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Removable insoles and other removable accessories	4,997	14	1,957	8	4,186	17	6,083	20	2,496	12	2,531	7	2,938	9	2,442	9	13,763	29	9,747	22	11,170	22	3,770	18
Uppers and parts thereof other than stiffeners:
of leather	322	1	308	3	166	2	420	4	104	2	190	3	1,596	10	434	7	5,522	26	2,731	20	1,446	5	45	0
Of other materials	2,385	11	1,749	9	4,995	4	386	1	8,022	26	1,945	9	1,632	14	992	10	5,854	28	9,432	27	4,745	28	2,060	19
Other parts:
of leather or composition leather	17,923	58	5,273	14	3,961	8	7,945	25	11,603	39	5,802	22	8,248	24	4,782	15	15,297	31	13,615	28	13,626	28	8,975	31
or rubber	42,611	66	28,992	39	49,513	61	23,776	34	45,309	52	36,482	45	20,830	37	15,574	24	10,896	19	15,137	31	46,701	44	16,768	27
of other materials	116,223	191	97,519	145	90,332	146	69,536	140	98,463	173	92,994	193	86,356	152	75,188	135	104,187	186	73,092	116	93,369	156	66,722	121
Total	184,461	338	135,798	217	153,365	239	108,146	224	166,847	305	139,944	281	121,600	248	99,412	200	155,519	319	123,754	243	171,057	284	98,340	216

Imports of parts of Footwear of all materials except Metal Asbestos in the months of 1978.

	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August
	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000
Assemblies of uppers fixed to inner soles but without outer soles	360	1	70	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Removable insoles and other removable accessories	3,482	16	8,148	26	8,147	21	4,899	23	3,109	12	3,210	13	4,358	12	2,048	11
Uppers and parts thereof other than stiffeners:
of leather	2,260	11	623	6	1,090	2	23	0	632	3	25	0	6,010	1	5,846	16
of other material	11,740	19	7,172	17	6,073	12	3,996	18	5,621	26	7,349	26	3,503	4	990	9
Other parts:
of leather or composition leather	15,647	44	20,022	55	9,923	37	15,852	54	14,155	42	7,005	23	10,528	39	15,871	36
of rubber	25,502	37	15,840	31	40,375	60	30,526	69	34,999	70	24,160	44	37,236	57	18,629	55
of other material	73,465	156	77,939	147	71,440	132	79,030	194	89,856	197	69,180	158	95,822	201	47,901	86
Total	132,456	284	129,814	283	137,048	264	134,326	357	148,372	350	110,929	265	157,457	315	91,285	214

Imports of prepared parts of Footwear of all materials except Metal and Asbestos 1973 to January—August 1978

Country of Origin	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	Jan.—Aug.1978
Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000
France	44,590	31	50,926	56	36,648	52	45,854	66	23,096	47	12,304	34
Belgium/Luxembourg	3,490	4	7,089	6	1,198	2	13,330	20	3,054	7	639	7
Netherlands	—	—	1,966	6	13	0	831	1	—	—	461	2
Germany F. R.	83,654	127	111,911	176	88,118	188	68,626	147	51,809	118	19,855	48
Italy	168,636	231	82,433	105	112,494	178	127,674	221	148,532	340	120,786	327
Great Britain	1,498,011	916	1,257,025	1,118	1,091,961	1,269	1,017,026	1,499	1,064,867	1,781	649,309	1,209
Denmark	—	—	—	—	22,939	35	56,115	116	68,993	179	29,279	83
Northern Ireland	10,614	7	14,382	13	7,504	8	13,522	23	28,976	60	20,384	45
Sweden	—	—	10	—	1	0	86	0	15,178	125	22,584	105
Austria	9,485	20	3,633	8	6,500	14	11,530	30	5,252	16	8,001	26
Portugal	16	0	20,225	44	22,908	62	26,417	82	31,857	104	22,353	100
Spain	4,391	12	122,618	236	79,298	122	25,502	31	28,051	74	35,936	87
Poland	—	—	17	0	2,970	8	—	—	—	—	—	—
U.S.A.	143,076	154	19,948	44	58,861	98	196,164	306	173,955	224	95,907	245
Canada	—	—	42	0	10,607	20	5,401	10	10,171	21	3,087	8
Hong Kong	30	0	—	—	8,501	26	27,370	76	3,170	17	3	0
Other Countries	797	0	4,598	3	1,297	3	108	0	1,282	4	419	3
Total	1,966,790	1,504	1,696,823	1,816	1,551,818	2,085	1,635,556	2,628	1,658,243	3,115	1,041,307	2,331

Imports of prepared parts of Footwear of all materials except Metal Asbestos in the months of 1977.

Country of Origin	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000	Kg.	£000
France	3,042	6	1,327	3	2,895	6	1,759	4	3,482	7	2,576	5	971	2	1,927	4	1,127	2	1,631	3	2,012	4	347	1
Belgium/Luxembourg	—	—	659	1	364	1	—	—	372	1	1,049	2	—	—	—	—	12	0	—	—	598	1	—	—
Germany F. R.	8,606	18	692	3	6,301	14	8,485	23	4,813	12	893	2	1,446	2	1,953	6	7,262	12	4,374	11	6,444	12	540	2
Italy	12,596	30	7,984	18	12,948	25	18,471	35	13,719	25	13,463	39	19,919	50	8,625	19	3,038	12	10,691	26	15,406	33	11,672	27
Great Britain	101,892	143	98,255	139	97,461	136	59,970	116	102,759	173	88,123	151	77,396	130	80,451	145	94,113	194	83,906	150	107,120	166	73,421	140
Denmark	2,505	6	8,193	21	7,087	16	4,277	14	8,263	22	9,541	23	7,423	20	2,029	5	11,120	29	2,171	6	528	1	5,856	15
Northern Ireland	4,662	9	4,119	7	4,070	6	1,683	3	840	2	1,227	3	1,435	3	479	1	1,569	4	2,677	7	4,373	9	1,842	5
Sweden	—	—	—	—	31	1	815	8	180	2	1,222	15	1,164	12	894	10	2,414	23	4,659	16	2,274	22	1,525	17
Austria	1,149	4	396	1	904	3	84	0	—	—	249	1	—	—	898	2	1,108	4	—	—	464	1	—	—
Portugal	7,906	24	547	2	2,230	8	2,380	9	9,144	25	7,701	29	12	0	817	3	11	0	109	1	680	3	320	1
Spain	7,832	21	1,806	4	726	3	1,007	5	6,243	20	—	—	4,606	12	16	0	1,370	2	1,410	2	1,150	2	1,885	3
U.S.A.	22,440	48	10,270	10	18,348	19	9,215	7	17,032	15	13,900	12	6,017	14	1,320	5	32,375	37	12,099	20	30,007	30	932	5
Canada	10,171	21	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Brazil	42	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
India	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	27	1	—	—	—	—
Sri Lanka	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1,211	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Japan	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Hong Kong	1,618	9	1,550	8	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Australia	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	0	—	—
Total	184,461	338	135,798	217	153,365	239	108,146	224	166,847	305	139,944	281	121,600	248	99,412	200	155,519	319	123,754	243	171,057	284	98,340	216

Imports of prepared parts of Footwear of all materials except Metal Asbestos in the months of 1978.

Country of origin	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August
Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000	Kg	£000
France	2,288	6	2,400	7	1,740	5	1,616	5	5	0	367	1	3,493	9	395	1
Belgium/Luxembourg	—	—	—	—	367	1	—	—	17	0	—	—	255	6	—	—
Netherlands	—	—	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	460	2	—	—	—	—
Germany F. R.	2,806	9	793	2	7,193	14	2,590	5	2,731	8	1,545	5	1,644	4	553	2
Italy	16,319	34	7,809	25	14,930	34	23,575	66	13,595	44	14,760	49	17,229	48	12,499	28
Great Britain	79,649	155	79,801	147	83,940	139	70,109	142	99,397	193	74,770	140	119,217	200	42,806	94
Denmark	1,459	4	5,342	12	8,296	24	4,502	13	2,973	7	1,702	5	—	—	5,005	19
Northern Ireland	4,218	10	1,928	4	2,791	6	3,029	7	2,367	5	1,910	4	3,874	8	267	1
Sweden	7,240	16	1,852	5	4,865	10	1,599	14	1,152	17	3,863	25	1,095	5	918	13
Austria	838	3	101	0	290	1	1,746	8	2,030	6	—	—	—		2,996	7
Portugal	3,774	16	2,868	11	—	—	8,935	46	3,320	14	3,456	13	—	—	—	—
Spain	1,391	2	3,333	14	9,307	18	9,624	28	11,029	24	8,096	21	1,252	2	—	—
U.S.A.	10,097	24	22,518	51	3,329	11	6,952	24	9,750	32	—	—	9,319	33	25,846	49
Canada	2,013	4	1,065	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	9	0	—	—
Brazil	250	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
India	114	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Taiwan	—	—	—	—	—	—	49	0	6	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
Hong Kong	—	—	3	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Total	132,456	284	129,814	283	137,048	264	134,326	357	148,372	350	110,929	265	157,457	315	91,285	214

Dr. FitzGerald

On a point of order, I wish to raise the question of whether the Taoiseach will accept that it is discourteous to the leader of the party opposite and to the House to transfer to other Ministers questions to him on major issues of policy such as the EMS with which he is personally concerning himself with negotiating or the question of commissions for electoral boundaries to which he has a personal commitment. If I withdraw those questions, may I invite him to answer them in courtesy to myself, to my party and to the House?

An Ceann Comhairle

The Chair wishes to intervene here to say that it has always been the practice that questions are transferred to what is regarded as the most appropriate Department.

Dr. FitzGerald

I would ask the Taoiseach if he would have the courtesy to consider answering them himself.

The Taoiseach

It is not a question of courtesy. It is the question of objectivity, a question of judgement as to which Minister is primarily responsible. It does not matter from which source on the Opposition benches a question may come. There is a tendency on the part of every Deputy to try to get a question down to the Taoiseach because he knows that on two days each week he will get priority. Apart from that reason, it is only right that the Minister primarily charged with a particular subject should have questions addressed to him on that subject matter and not addressed to the Taoiseach.

Dr. FitzGerald

The Taoiseach has specific responsibility in relation to the two questions. Question No. 307 relates to the securing of democratic control over the single monetary authority that must emerge with monetary union, his own statement in this House and a matter on which he is negotiating. Why should responsibility for replying to that question, which is using his own words in relation to the matter, be transferred?

An Ceann Comhairle

We cannot discuss this now.

The Taoiseach

I will be discussing fishery matters, regional policy matters and agricultural matters next week with my colleagues——

Dr. FitzGerald

The Taoiseach is negotiating the EMS. I am glad he is doing this because it is an appropriate matter to discuss at the level of Heads of Government. Why has a question on that subject been transferred? Secondly, surely the Taoiseach accepts personal responsibility for the guarantee with regard to electoral commissions? This is not a matter for the Minister. What I wanted to discuss in this House is the Taoiseach's commitment, not the Minister's commitment. I have not heard the Minister on the subject commit himself to anything.

Dáil Éireann debate - Wednesday, 29 Nov 1978

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Footwear Imports.

Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 29 Nov 1978