asked the Ministry for Industry and Commerce whether he will furnish the Dáil with full particulars of the tenders recently submitted by the authorities in Haulbowline Dockyard for the repairing of the s.s. Helga and other ships of the Saorstát now being repaired in Belfast; whether he will state by whom these tenders were prepared, and what are the qualifications and experience of such person or persons for this highly technical work; further, whether before giving the contracts to Belfast, the Government Contracts Committee, or responsible authority therefor, were in possession of the local conditions in Haulbowline; whether he is aware that the wages of skilled and unskilled men in Haulbowline are very little higher than in Belfast, and that the number of unemployed is large, with consequent disbursement of big sums of unemployment monies; whether the Minister will give the reasons, in view of the above facts, why sympathetic consideration was not given to the claims of this important dockyard.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. [ORAL ANSWERS.] - REPAIRS TO GOVERNMENT SHIPS.
I would refer the Deputy to the replies already given on the 7th instant by Mr. Duggan and the Assistant Minister for Industry and Commerce in answer to a question by Deputy Liam O Briain.
It is a recognised practice to treat as strictly confidential all figures submitted in connection with tenders for Government contracts and I am reluctant to depart from that practice; but as the Deputy presses the matter I may say that the tender by the Belfast firm which was accepted was less than £1,000, while the estimate prepared at Haulbowline was over £1,700. That estimate was prepared by an experienced and competent Marine Architect who is in charge of the yard.
The disparity was not primarily due to the differences in the rate of wages but to some extent to the fact that the dockyard at Haulbowline was constructed and laid out by the Admiralty for the repair of large warships, and connot compete with commercial yards for ordinary work.
Can the Minister say with regard to this work whether they have found since the ship arrived in Belfast that there is new work to be done, which will add to the total cost, and which might well have been considered in the making of the original contract.
No, I cannot say about that; I have not heard about it, but I saw the estimates this morning and went through them item by item, and I do not think that there would have been room for having any extra work covered in the one case which would not have been covered in the other. There were about fifteen different heads, and each one of these was priced.
Does the Minister know whether, having gone into the work in Belfast, that they, fortunately for themselves, found that a great deal more work was to be done on the same ship?
I do not know anything about that.
Will the Minister have enquiries made into the matter?
I will.
Can the Minister say if it is correct to state that the members of the crew when discharged were obliged to pay the return fares to Dublin and that they were refused a refund, and will he consider the possibility of making the necessary refund?
That is not supplementary to this matter. That is a separate question.
Will the Minister assure the Dáil that this dockyard at Haulbowline will get greater sympathy in the future?
I will have to understand what is meant by "sympathy." If it means £900 on every contract of £1,700 I am not prepared to extend that much sympathy, nor do I think that the Dáil would be justified in continuing me in office if I were to do so.
Considering the amounts disbursed in unemployment I do not think that would be asking too much.
Will the Minister analyse the tender from Belfast and the tender from Haulbowline and examine them closely? I think the Minister will agree that there is something extraordinary about them.
I did that this morning. I examined each item this morning.