Vol. 20 No. 13
On behalf of the Minister for Lands I move:—
That Seanad Eireann hereby approves of Control of Imports (Quota No. 1) (Amendment No. 2) Order, 1935, made on the 18th day of June, 1935, by the Executive Council under the Control of Imports Act, 1934 (No. 12 of 1934).
I second.
Quota No. 1 Order can best be considered in conjunction with Quota No. 19 Order to which the next Resolution relates. Quota No. 1 Order regulates the importation of outer covers of motor car tyres. The Order was made for the purpose of securing the home market for the motor tyre factory in Cork. A number of sizes of tyres was specified in the Order. When the Cork factory commenced operations it found it could at once supply the home requirements in certain sizes of tyres only, and consequently this amendment Order was made. The purpose was to exclude from the scope of No. 1 Order sizes of tyres which the Cork factory was making in full quantities and, at the same time, Quota Order No. 19 was made to cover those sizes of tyres. The effect of the change was to enable us to restrict to the extent desired importations of the classes of tyres which were being made in Cork, and to prevent licences issued in respect of other classes of tyres being used for the importation of the classes that were being manufactured. The two Orders together make the position similar to what it was when only one Order was operating. The Quota in Order No. 19 is now a nominal quota only, and considerable importations are still taking place of the classes of tyres which remain covered by Quota Order No. 1.
The House has heard an explanation from the Minister with regard to the next Order.
On behalf of the Minister for Lands I move:
That Seanad Eireann hereby approves of Control of Imports (Quota No. 19) Order, 1935, made on the 18th day of June, 1935, by the Executive Council under the Control of Imports Act, 1934 (No. 12 of 1934).
I second.
On behalf of the Minister for Lands I move:—
That Seanad Eireann hereby approves of Control of Imports (Quota No. 20) Order, 1935, made on the 18th day of June, 1935, by the Executive Council under the Control of Imports Act, 1934 (No. 12 of 1934).
I second.
Quota Order No. 20 relates to tomatoes, and under it the importation of raw tomatoes into the Saorstát is prohibited. The object of the Order, which was made at the instance of the Department of Agriculture, was to restrict the importation of tomatoes during the season of home production, with a view to securing the full market for home produced tomatoes. The period of home production is approximately from 24th June to 31st October in each year. Under the present Quota Order that period was covered this year by a preliminary period, and the first and second quota periods. In the preliminary period, which extended from 19th June, 1935, to the 14th July, 1935, licences to the extent of 11,425 cwts. were issued. In the first quota period, 15th July, 1935, to 31st August, 1935, licences for 5,500 cwts. were issued, and in the second period, which extended to 31st October, licences for 7,088 cwts. were issued. The quantities in each case were those indicated by the Department of Agriculture as being adequate, with the help of the home supply, to meet all the normal requirements of the country. For the third quota period, which commenced on the 1st November, 1935, and ends on 23rd June, 1936, there is no desire to restrict imports in any way. No home grown tomatoes are available, and consequently 56,000 cwts. has been appointed, and is considered as more than adequate to enable all the tomatoes required to be met by imports until June 23rd next, when home grown tomatoes will be again available.
On behalf of the Minister for Lands I move:—
That Seanad Eireann hereby approves of Control of Imports (Quota No. 21) Order, 1935, made on the 12th day of July, 1935, by the Executive Council under the Control of Imports Act, 1934 (No. 12 of 1934).
I second.
This Order relates to soap, soap powder, and soap substitutes, the importation of which is prohibited. Substantial progress has been made, as Senators are aware, in the development of the soap industry, but as imports are continuing to some extent, it was considered desirable that they should be excluded, and the home market reserved for the numerous soap factories in this country. Imports were taking place despite the prevailing Customs duty. Mainly in consequence of considerations other than price and value, 27,000 cwts. of soap were imported in 1934, and in consequence it was decided to restrict imports under the Control of Imports Act. The quota which has been fixed for the first quota period represents a reduction of 80 per cent. on the previous imports in the same period last year, and in due course it is anticipated that imports of soap will cease entirely. There are certain small quantities of indispensable soap and soap powder used for industrial purposes which are not yet being manufactured in this country, but licences issued under the Order are fully adequate for all requirements that have to be imported.
On behalf of the Minister for Lands, I move:—
That Seanad Eireann hereby approves of Control of Imports (Quota No. 22) Order, 1935, made on the 12th day of July, 1935, by the Executive Council under the Control of Imports Act, 1934 (No. 12 of 1934).
I second.
This Order was made on the same date as the previous Order and relates to candles which are manufactured by the same class of manufacturers. The factories established here are quite capable of supplying all our requirements in candles, tapers and night lights, but it was found that further progress in the industry required the making of this Order. The quota fixed under the Order represents a reduction of 60 per cent. on the imports in the corresponding period of last year, but it is not clear that even the restricted imports which are being allowed will, in fact, be availed of. The licences issued so far do not equal the permitted imports and, in fact, there is no reason why imports should take place at all There may be certain unusual classes of candles, tapers or night lights not yet manufactured in the Saorstát but if such are required the quota is more than adequate to meet all the requirements.
On behalf of the Minister for Lands, I move:—
That Seanad Eireann hereby approves of Control of Imports (Quota No. 23) Order, 1935, made on the 2nd day of August, 1935, by the Executive Council under the Control of Imports Act, 1934 (No. 12 of 1934).
I second.
Quota Order No. 23 relates to onions and under it the importation of raw onions is prohibited. The Order, like the Order in respect to tomatoes, was made at the instance of the Department of Agriculture with a view to securing a market for home-grown onions during the season of production. During the preliminary period, the 3rd August, 1935, to the 1st September, 1935, 8,997 cwts. were licensed. During the first quota period, 2nd September, 1935, to 31st October, 1935, a quota of 20,000 cwts. was appointed, this being the quantity estimated by the Department of Agriculture to be sufficient when supplemented by the home supply to provide for all the normal needs of the country. During the second quota period, which commenced on the 1st November, 1935, and extends to the 31st July, 1936, a quota of 148,000 cwts. will operate. It is estimated that this quantity is more than adequate to enable all normal requirements of importers to be met without restriction during that period.
On behalf of the Minister for Lands, I move:—
That Seanad Eireann hereby approves of Control of Imports (Quota No. 24) Order, 1935, made on the 13th day of September, 1935, by the Executive Council under the Control of Imports Act, 1934 (No. 12 of 1934).
I second.
This Order relates to perambulators. Under the Order, the importation of assembled perambulators and of assembled bodies and chassis is prohibited except under licence. Considerable progress has been made in the perambulator industry, some half-a-dozen firms being engaged therein. It was found that for various reasons further progress in assembly could not be attained so long as imported perambulators and imported bodies and chassis were being freely admitted. The Order is designed to transfer the whole, or substantially the whole, of the home market in perambulators of the type covered by the Order to the native assembly firms. During the preliminary period licences were issued for goods in transit and for a number of importers' requirements. Licences to the extent of 93 perambulators have been issued.
The first quota period extends from the 21st October, 1935, to 31st January, 1936, and a quota of 200 has been appointed for that period. The number is largely experimental inasmuch as there were no exact figures available of the imports of these articles. The quota period has, accordingly, been made a short one so that any necessary adjustments of the number to be admitted under licence may be made in a normal way and without undue delay. There are 34 importers on the register and licences have been issued to these on the basis laid down under Section 9 of the Control of Imports Act.
Is there any truth in the report in an English newspaper that triptyques are being issued for the purposes of this Order?
I do not think so.
On behalf of the Minister for Lands I move:—
That Seanad Eireann hereby approves of Control of Imports (Quota No. 25) Order, 1935, made on the 4th day of October, 1935, by the Executive Council under the Control of Imports Act, 1934 (No. 12 of 1934).
I second.
Under this Quota Order the importation is prohibited of any motor car body part which is an assembly consisting of the back part of a motor car body and any part of a side or sides, or of the roof. The importation of motor car body shells is already prohibited under Quota Order No. 10 with the intention of securing as extensive a degree of body assembly as possible within the Saorstát. The most difficult portion of body assembly, and the portion which affords most employment is the joining together of the back part and the side panels. Such assemblies could be imported notwithstanding the quota order prohibiting the importation of body shells, and in order to prevent the position from being abused by extensive importations of such assemblies, this quota order was made for the purpose of preventing the importation of those assemblies.
During the preliminary period which extends from the 5th October, 1935, to the 5th November, 1935, licences for limited quantities only are being issued such licences being confined to firms who had commenced assembly work on the basis of the importation of assembled back and side parts. The first quota period extends from 6th November, 1935, to the 30th June, 1936, and the quota for that period has been fixed at 30, which is little more than nominal, for the purpose of enabling effect to be given to the requirements of Section 9 of the Control of Imports Act.
