asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state the industries and the number of cases in each industry in which since the coming into operation of the Control of Manufactures Act, 1932, he has intervened to exercise his powers under Section 2 of that Act to prevent the unlawful carrying on of business in contravention of that section; and the number of cases in each industry in which prosecutions for offences under that section have taken place.
Ceisteanna.—Questions. Oral Answers. - Offences Under Manufactures Act.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state the industries and the number of cases in connection with each industry in which he has since the coming into operation of the Control of Manufactures Act, 1932, exercised his powers under Section 11 of that Act for the purpose of getting information from manufacturers and others; whether any, and, if so, how many prosecutions have taken place for offences under the section, and whether, arising out of information received under the section, any manufacture licences have been cancelled, and, if so, how many.
I will answer both questions together. Persons carrying on or proposing to carry on manufactures frequently consult with the Department as to whether their operations require a licence under Section 2 of the Control of Manufactures Act. Arising out of such consultations or independently of them the Department has investigated some 500 manufacturing undertakings, covering a great variety of manufactures, for the purpose of ascertaining whether they are carried on in conformity with the section. In the great majority of cases the undertakings have been voluntarily brought into conformity with the law. There has been no prosecution under the section, but the matter of a prosecution in some few cases is under consideration. To date my Department has been successful in obtaining voluntarily information as to the nature of manufacturing undertakings without recourse to the compulsory powers under Section 11 of the Control of Manufactures Act. The final part of the second question does not, therefore, arise.
Will the Minister say if there is any machinery by which members of the House can see a list of the new owners of these factories or get any details in regard to these factories?
Does the Deputy mean factories licensed under the Control of Manufactures Act?
I am referring to factories set up since last June which came under the control of the Minister under the Control of Manufactures Act. Is there any machinery by which members of the House can keep under review the names and the locations of new factories of that kind?
I can afford information as to the factories in respect to which licences have been issued. In respect to factories that do not require a licence and that are outside the scope of the Act, I have no functions. The Deputy, if he is willing to do it, can start a factory at any time without consulting or informing me.
Do I understand from the Minister that information is available as to the firms that have been issued licences under the Control of Manufactures Act, and, if so, where is that information available?
It will be made available in answer to queries.
That is the one place where it is not made available.
I understood from the Minister's reply to Questions Nos. 22 and 23, that by the very fact that a firm is the subject of an inquiry at all, he is precluded from saying a word in answer to such a query.
I think it is obviously undesirable that I should state here that any particular firm had been the subject of an investigation as to whether it had been breaking the law.
Will the Minister consider the desirability of laying in the Library a list of firms that have been granted licences under this Act?
So long as I can get an assurance from the Deputy that he is not going to use this information for the purpose of injuring these factories. The number of factories started under the Act is a very small proportion of the total number of factories started.
What good would that assurance be to the Minister? The Minister knows how mischievous, from his point of view, my colleagues are from time to time.