I beg to move recommendation 1:—
Section 7. To delete all after the word "unladen" in line 31, page 4, down to and including the word "Minister" in line 36, and to substitute therefor the words "and which is accompanied by a certificate signed by the authorised assembling agent showing that such vehicle was assembled in Saorstát Eireann in a manner and to an extent specified by order made by the Minister for Industry and Commerce and in force at the time such vehicle was assembled."
I fairly well explained on the Second Reading the object I had in view in putting down a recommendation for this Stage. The Minister for Industry and Commerce was not present on that occasion, and perhaps I had better explain again briefly that my principal object is to try to evolve an arrangement which will be quite workable. This is one of the sections under which a person has got to deal with two Ministers, and that is generally more or less unfortunate. The Minister for Finance has just disappeared. It is no reflection upon him if I say that one would prefer to deal only with the Minister for Industry and Commerce, or alternatively with the Minister for Finance. When you have two Ministers to deal with, quite a lot of things are involved. The rating of 16 h.p. will be under the control of the Minister for Finance and the tax of £16 will be collected by the county councils for the Road Fund. The point as to whether a car is qualified for a tax at the 16 h.p. rate will be in the hands of the Minister for Industry and Commerce. That is a difficulty which can be comparatively easily got over in administration and I have no doubt every effort will be made to make the arrangement workable.
We have at the present time a case where a certain kind of car is entitled to pay the road tax at the lower rate. That is a car that happened to be manufactured in a particular year. The late Minister for Finance made a concession, which he did not continue, and we have therefore a peculiar position under which, if your car was manufactured in a certain year, you are entitled to a reduction of 25 per cent. This new arrangement is to be carried out by means of a certificate which will be accepted by the various county councils. I do not know what penalty there will be, but I have no doubt that agents will be liable to a fairly substantial penalty if they give a false certificate.
I take it the object of the Minister will be to get as many cars as possible assembled under these new regulations, in order to increase employment, and he will probably wish to have the car so assembled made as readily saleable as possible. The experience of most motor traders is that when a person makes up his mind to buy a car—he may be thinking over the matter for weeks and eventually decide to buy one—he must have it to go home with, and he expects to be able to get the tax paid and everything arranged on the spot. It is, therefore, essential that there should be no question of doubt as to the payment of tax on one of the cars assembled here; otherwise, a purchaser might not be inclined to buy such a car. There should be some machinery by which the certificate can be issued and attached to the car. One can easily recognise a car by means of the chassis and engine numbers. As the section stands, it is extremely vague. It may be purposely so, but I think it is unsatisfactorily vague.
As the section stands, a car is entitled to the lower rate of tax if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Minister for Industry and Commerce that the vehicle was assembled in the Saorstát in a manner for the time being approved by the Minister. I expressed a doubt here as to the meaning of the words "for the time being." I have been since informed that the meaning is at the time the car was assembled. I understand certain cars are being assembled here at the moment, and no definite authority as to what is to be regarded as assembling has been issued yet by the Minister. No doubt that matter is in contemplation. In the absence of such an authority, it might be difficult to prove that a car assembled to-day is assembled in what the Minister may regard as a satisfactory manner.
I am going on the assumption, which I took from the Minister's speech in the Dáil, that it is the intention to fix a particular standard of assembly, and ultimately he intends to make that provision stiffer in order to increase employment. I am not disputting the wisdom of that. I am merely assuming that the standard assembly will be greater or higher, as the case may be, in the future. If it is going to be possible for motor traders to make arrangements with American manufacturers, they will have to be able, immediately, to get something in writing which will be definitely authoritative and which they can send to those manufacturers and so endeavour to make arrangements with them. Otherwise, unless they are very wealthy, they could not take the risk of getting in considerable numbers of parts and find afterwards that the work they have carried out could not be regarded as an assembly.
The reason I put down the recommendation is to try to set out the only practical working arrangement, and that is, that the Minister should make an order and that order, when made, shall be at any rate an understanding that it will operate for three or six months, so that firms getting parts will have reasonable time to assemble them. When a car has been assembled there should be some easy way in which a certificate could be given to the effect that the car has been assembled in accordance with a specific order made by the Minister. I think it is exceedingly important that there should be an order made, because then it will be scrupulously fair to all firms and there can be no doubt about it. I also think it is very important that the Minister should give some undertaking that when he makes any order he will not make it stiffer for a reasonable period, and when I say a reasonable period I mean such period as would give security to the firms who get in their parts to get them assembled. Otherwise the risk of getting in parts of cars would be very considerable if they did not come under the order. I need hardly point out that the effect of this order will be to make it increasingly difficult to sell American cars that have not been assembled here. That, I take it, is the Minister's desire and is the object of the order. Therefore any firms who bring in parts and then find, owing to the lapse of time, that they cannot assemble them, will be placed in much difficulty because they will be liable to the 26 or 28 horse-power tax when a similar car would be only subject to the tax at the 16 horse-power rate. My object is to make the tax fair to all firms. When the Minister is replying I would be glad if he would make a statement as to when he will be in a position to make a public statement on these matters. Senators know that I am connected with one firm of motor car people, and I have also been approached by another firm who asked me to find out what will be regarded as assembling a car or what is meant by the assembling of a car. The Minister's speech was purposely vague. He used the word "knock-down." That can be very vague. It would be a great help in speeding the matter up if he would say when that statement would be available.