I move:
Go ndeontar suim ná suim ná raghaidh tar £303,545 chun slánuithe na suime is gá chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1937, chun Tuarastail agus Costaisí Oifig an Aire Tionnscail agus Tráchtála, maraon le Coiste Comhairlitheach na Rátaí, agus Ildeontaisí i gCabhair.
That a sum not exceeding £303,545 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1937, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Industry and Commerce, including the Rates Advisory Committee, and sundry Grants-in-Aid.
In moving this Estimate for the Department of Industry and Commerce, it is difficult to contemplate giving anything like a detailed review of the work done by the Department during the course of the past year except one were to make a very long speech involving a number of detailed particulars. The function of the Department of Industry and Commerce extends over a very wide field and its activities are very varied; attempting to deal with them all would be a very big task. I do not think it has been the practice of the Minister to do that. On some occasions in the past it was generally understood that the occasion of this Estimate would be used for the purpose of debating some particular aspect of the Minister's policy and on other occasions the discussion ranged over a very wide field. On this occasion I note that a motion to refer back the Estimate has been tabled. But I have not been informed that any particular aspect of the work of the Department is responsible for that motion. I take it that it is desired to discuss any matter that may seem pertinent to Deputies. I am quite prepared to contemplate such a discussion but Deputies will understand that it is not possible for me in advance to give in relation to particular branches of the Department in which they are most interested the information they desire, because I have not been informed what these branches are. There are, however, certain broad aspects of the work of the Department which are, I am sure, generally understood, and it is in connection with these that I propose to give that review of our work during the past year which is customary on these occasions.
The major function of the Department at the present time, as Deputies know, is to stimulate and develop industry. Although the Minister for Industry and Commerce has functions of various kinds, he is, in the public eye at any rate, primarily Minister for Industry, and his principal function is to stimulate industrial development and, generally, to secure the establishment of the conditions which will permit industrial development taking place as rapidly and as satisfactorily as possible. The progress made in industry during the course of the past year has been at least not less than in the previous years. On this occasion last year, when moving the Vote for my Department, I gave at considerable length a review of the position in respect of many branches of industry. I do not wish to repeat that performance on this occasion, although I intend giving a sort of general review, first, because it is my duty on this occasion to give such a review, and secondly, because I know it always annoys members of the Opposition. Since this programme of intensive industrial development was put into operation in 1932, there has been established in the Saorstát a large number of new concerns. It is, however, necessary to repeat here what I have said before, that the measure of our industrial progress is not the number of new factories opened, because, to a much greater extent, that progress took the form of the extension of existing concerns, the increase in their production, or additions to their plant and equipment. For some reason, however, some people seem to regard as the index of our industrial development the number of new factories established. It is not easy to give a precise figure for that. There is, of course, maintained under the Factories and Workshops Acts a register of factories and workshops, and every factory and workshop opened in the Saorstát must be entered in that register. Since March, 1932, the number of new factories and workshops opened in the Saorstát and recorded in that register is over 700. Of these 700 new factories and workshops, 532 were opened in protected industries. That figure, I think, is satisfactory and is indicative of a considerable extension in production, even if one were not to go to the other sources of information for the purpose of finding out what has happened. For the information of Deputies, and particularly of those who have been expressing themselves in public upon the nature of the employment given in factories and workshops of the Saorstát, I should like to point out that, of a total number of 70,000 persons employed in protected industries in the Saorstát, over 81 per cent. are adults. Only 19 per cent. of those employed are under 18 years of age, and 81 per cent., or more than four out of every five, are adult persons, and of these adult persons, more than 56 per cent. are males. There is there indicated a comparatively high percentage of female adult labour employed, and that figure may be of interest to Deputies who will remember our discussions upon that matter during the occasion of the passage of the Conditions of Employment Act. Persons, however, who have been led to believe that Irish industrial progress has taken the form of the employment of juvenile labour in small factories will be interested to get that figure which I have given them—a total of 70,000 people employed in these industries, of whom 81 per cent. are adult.
Taking the various industrial groups one by one for the purpose of examining the position, one finds that, while a very considerable amount of progress has been made, we are by no means at the end of the road that we have set out to travel. There is still considerable room for development in many of the groups of industries which exist here, apart altogether from the new industries that may possibly be established in the future. In the apparel group—the industries interested in the production of men's and women's wearing apparel other than hosiery or boots and shoes—employment at the 1st of September of 1935 was over 19,000 persons. That figure, I think, represents in a very striking way the progress which has been made in that group of industries. In 1931, the goods in the apparel group which were imported were valued at over £5,000,000. In 1935, that import of apparel had been reduced in value to something less than £2,000,000. There is, nevertheless, almost £2,000,000 worth of one class of apparel or another being imported. That figure will give an indication to interested parties of the extent to which there is room for further progress in that group of industries. The boot and shoe industry has continued at an accelerated pace the progress which we were able to record in previous years. There are now 22 boot and shoe factories operating in the Saorstát, of which six commenced operations during the past 12 months. The employment afforded by the industry is over 4,500 persons. Arrangements have been made, and are in fact in an advanced stage, for the establishment of five additional factories in various parts of the Saorstát in the immediate future. Certainly, the production of goods from these factories will commence during the present year. In the hosiery group there is also room for further development. Last year our imports of hosiery goods were valued at £300,000, and although that figure should be compared with the figure of £1,000,000 for 1931, there is still evidence of room for further development. Employment in the hosiery industry is now over 4,000 persons.
In the group of industries which come under the general heading of food, drink, and tobacco, employment in September of 1935 was over 16,250. Most of the industries in that group have reached the point at which further expansion is not to be expected. They are supplying in full the requirements of the country, and a further increase in employment in the industry is not likely, although there was an increase recorded during the past year of over 200 as compared with 1934.
In the textile group of industries— those factories that are concerned with the manufacture of textiles of one kind or another—employment in September of last year was 5,700. In that group there is perhaps more room for new development than in any other. The importation of textile goods of one kind or another during the past year was very considerable, and, in fact, because of the development of other industries —particularly of the apparel industries —our importation of textiles has been increasing very substantially during the past few years. Arrangements have been made, however, for the increased production on a large scale of cotton goods and also of various classes of woollen and worsted goods not now produced in the Sarstát. We hope that by the end of next year there will have been very substantial improvement in the position in respect of that industry; that is, a very considerable reduction in imports and an increase in the employment afforded here.
The various metal manufacturing industries employed over 8,000 persons on the 1st September last year, a number which represented an increase of about 12 per cent. on the previous year. As Deputies will have read in the Press, arrangements have been made for the establishment of new industries in that group, arrangements which are now being brought into operation, and a further expansion in the production of these industries and in the employment given by them can be expected in the near future.
During the course of 1935 there were a number of new industries established, that is industries of a kind which did not previously exist in the Saorstát. Perhaps I may be excused if I refer briefly to the nature of these industries for the purpose of indicating the variety of them and because of the fact that we have been fairly successful, on the whole, in securing that these industries were established in different parts of the Saorstát and not concentrated in one or two of the larger cities and towns. The establishment of a mill for the production of cloth for cotton flour bags was effected at Slane, in County Meath. Bakelite products are being manufactured at Nenagh, in County Tipperary, and in Bray, County Wicklow—household goods in the first instance, and electric equipment in the second instance.
I mentioned that five new boot and shoe factories have been established. These are in different parts of the Saorstát. The manufacture of rubber boots and shoes was commenced during the year in Cork. The development of the boot and shoe industry made possible the establishment of a number of subsidiary industries for supplying goods required by the boot and shoe manufacturers. The manufacture of boot and shoe lasts of wood was commenced at Newbridge. Boot and shoe laces and elastic are being manufactured at Ennis in County Clare. The production of calcium carbide was commenced at Askeaton. Arising from that, a factory was established in Dublin for the production of industrial gases—oxygen and acetylene and similar gases. New factories were set up for the production of card-board containers. There is still a not inconsiderable import of card-board containers, mainly of a specialised type, but some factories recently established for the production of these will, we hope, cut in on that import figure to a substantial extent during the course of the present year.
The production of shot-gun cartridges was commenced at Galway. During the year some firms in Dublin commenced the assembling of clocks, both ordinary and electric, from imported parts. The drawing of copper tubes, for the production of copper tubing for housing purposes, was commenced at Galway and Deputies who attend here regularly are well aware that the manufacture of cotton thread was commenced at Westport. A factory was established at Newbridge for the production of cutlery, and dairy engineering equipment is being manufactured at Dublin. At Bray, in the County Wicklow, a new factory for the production of electric lighting bulbs came into operation and is at present working to capacity. At Tralee, a factory was established for the manufacture of enamel-ware. Fibre suit cases and similar goods are being manufactured in a new factory at Portarlington in Laoighis. The production of felt-base floor coverings was commenced by a new concern at Tipperary town, and a factory has also been established at Tipperary for the production of skin gloves.
There were two new hosiery manufacturing establishments commenced at Dublin, a mineral oil refinery was established at Cobh, County Cork, and a vegetable oil refinery at Drogheda, County Louth. Bitumastic paints are being manufactured at Dublin and lead pencils and similar goods are being manufactured at Mullingar. The production of soda crystals was commenced at Galway, and at Dun Laoghaire the production of marble terrazo was commenced. A factory has been built and will soon be coming into production at Portarlington for the manufacture of sports goods. Children's toys are being manufactured on a commercial scale by a new concern at Tralee.
During the course of the present year, it is hoped that we will succeed in getting a start made with the establishment of industries for the production of a number of other classes of goods. I can mention art silk fabrics, asbestos products, buttons of a kind not now produced in the Saorstát; cement, cotton piece goods, flour improver, fire-clay products, foundry products of a class not now produced here; plate and sheet glass, felt hats, upper leathers for boots and shoes, wire nails, wood screws, wrapping paper, and perhaps also certain other classes of paper; springs and axles for motors and other vehicles; wireless sets, and worsted dress materials. There are also a number of other goods, which it is hoped will be produced here during the course of the year, to which for various reasons it is not now possible to refer. In giving that review of the industrial progress that has been achieved in the past year, and which we hope to effect in the course of the present year, I wish to draw attention to the fact that there is still a very considerable field open to people with initiative and enterprise who desire to engage in industrial work here. The impression may have been created in some minds that all the industrial possibilities of this country have been fully availed of, and that any person now engaging in industry here would have to reckon upon the market he hoped to supply being catered for by some firms as well as his own. It is obvious to anybody who studies carefully our trade and shipping statistics and gets the more detailed information that can be made available through my Department as to the nature of the goods still imported, that there is substantial room for further progress, and the function of the Department of Industry and Commerce, a function which I hope we will continue to discharge at least as well in future as we have done in the past, is to assist and encourage any person who desires to avail of whatever possibilities there are.
In dealing with industrial policy, it is not infrequently alleged that, while it is true that progress is being made in the mere matter of increasing the volume of production, the conditions under which that production is taking place are unsuitable and open to criticism. Apart from the function of my Department to encourage and promote industrial development, there is the obligation on it also to ensure that factory conditions are such as would meet with general approval, and we have powers under various statutes to deal with such matters. It is, perhaps, appropriate that at this stage I should indicate in some brief and general way what we have done during the past year to ensure that factory conditions in the Saorstát will be what everybody desires. Of course, one must mention in that connection, primarily, the enactment during the year of the Conditions of Employment Act. That Act became law some two months ago. It has not yet been brought into operation, however. As I informed the House last week, I hope to have it in operation before the end of this month. The various arrangements which are necessary to enable that to be done are being pushed ahead as rapidly as possible. It is an Act which will effect very considerable changes in the conduct of a number of industries and, consequently, a considerable amount of preparatory work has to be done before it can be brought formally into operation. Apart from that Act, there are other statutes bearing upon industrial conditions. The first code of legislation in this respect is what are known as the Trade Board Acts. Under these Acts we have power to establish trade boards for unorganised industries where, because of the absence of organisation amongst the workers or employers, it is not possible to get wage agreements in the ordinary way. In such industries, trade boards may be established, and these have the right to recommend to the Minister the fixation of a minimum rate of wages and, on such a minimum rate being ordered, it becomes illegal for any employer to pay less than the minimum rate. There are 13 of these trade boards functioning at present. During the last year we established two new trade boards, one for the button-making industry and the other for the handkerchief and household piece goods trade.
The inspection of factories for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of the Factory and Workshop Acts fell off during the course of the past two years, due to the inadequacy of our inspectorate staff. We had to take certain factory inspectors and put them on other work when, during 1932-33, the expansion of the activities of my Department outran the additions to its personnel. We have, however, been making up the arrears of inspections. The total number of premises on the factories and workshops register is 11,370. The joint percentage of inspections carried out under the Factory and Workshop Acts and under the operative trade boards during the past year represent approximately 60 per cent. of the premises on the registers. It is desirable we should have 100 per cent. inspections and, to enable that to be achieved in the course of the coming year, we have sought and obtained sanction for the appointment of additional inspectors.
Under the Apprenticeship Act three committees are now functioning, one for the brush and broom trade, which committee covers the whole of the Saorstát; one for the furniture trade in the City and County of Dublin, and one for the hairdressing trade in the City and County of Dublin. At an early date we hope there will function a committee for the house-painting trade for the whole Saorstát. Consideration is being given to the establishment of apprenticeship committees for the electrical engineering trade, the manufacture of waterproofs and for dental mechanics. The Apprenticeship Act was passed in 1931, but there was some difficulty in having it brought into operation, a difficulty which anybody who reads the reports of the debates upon the Act will understand; but it has now been got over and, as the facts I have stated will indicate, the co-operation of all parties in the establishment of these committees in trades where it is necessary to have them is being secured.
I think I should mention the function of my Department to supervise the control of prices, which is exercisable under the Control of Prices Act by the Prices Commission and the Controller of Prices. I admit straight away to any Deputy who cares to make the point that the powers conferred under the existing Control of Prices Act are not adequate. That Act was a makeshift measure. It was introduced early in 1932. It was the subject of considerable controversy in the Seanad and, in July of that year, I was faced with the alternative of accepting a number of amendments which were inserted in the Seanad or having the Act suspended for 18 months. I decided to accept the amendments and we got the Bill made law, but a large part of its effectiveness had, in my opinion, been destroyed by the amendments. It will be realised that at that time there was not amongst all Parties in the House the same appreciation of the need for prices control legislation which, judging by speeches and questions we have heard put recently, now exists. I hope to have the question of the amendment and improvement of that Act taken up actively during the course of the present year. So far as the work done under the Act is concerned, I refer Deputies to the published report of the Prices Commission, which is available in the library.
Perhaps I might refer at this stage to another measure that the Department is partly responsible for the administration of—the Tobacco Act. It is merely because it comes in at this stage in my notes, and also because there is some information, that I think Deputies interested in that Act may like to have that I refer to the matter now. The total harvest of tobacco, for 1934, amounted to 682,861 lbs. and this quantity was distributed in accordance with the terms of the Act amongst the different manufacturers. The price they paid for it totalled £41,147.
At this stage perhaps I should mention that one of the functions of my Department is the prevention and the settlement of industrial disputes, and that function occupied a very considerable amount of the time of the officers of my Department during the course of the past year. During that period my Department intervened in 100 disputes, many of which were tedious and called for a number of prolonged conferences. The prevalence of industrial disputes for some time past has caused grave concern, not merely to members of the Government, but to everybody who is interested in this country's development. There can be no doubt that widespread and continuous industrial unrest is destructive of stability and the sense of confidence which progress demands.
Examining the disputes which occurred during the past year, one is forced to the conclusion that a very large percentage of them were avoidable. I know that Henry Ford, who is a very large employer, has stated his opinion that every strike is evidence of bad management in the concern affected, but I am not sure that that general statement, or any general statement of that kind, can be true in every case. It certainly does not apply to the cases of dispute of which we have had some examples during the course of the past year, where there was no question of wages or conditions of employment involved and where the stoppage of work was due to inter-union disputes which the employer was powerless to influence or resolve. In fact, in quite a number of last year's disputes, the element of inter-union rivalry was present, even where the direct cause of the stoppage was not dissatisfaction with the rates of wages or conditions of work. There can, I think, be no question that industrial stoppages due, directly or indirectly, to competition between rival trade unions to increase their membership is evidence of defective organisation of the trade union movement, which it should be the concern of responsible trade union leaders to rectify. I was pleased, therefore, to see in the Press reports which indicate that the Dublin Trades Council, and the Irish Trade Union Congress, are taking steps to set up machinery intended to prevent such inter-union disputes from arising amongst their constituent unions. It must be clear to everybody that if industrial disputes, due to inter-union rivalry, should proceed, the Government could not remain indifferent; but I think it is equally clear that it is most desirable that action to deal with that position should originate within the trade union movement itself.
The coming into operation of the Conditions of Employment Act, providing, as it does, effective machinery for the regulation of working hours and other conditions of employment in industry, as well as machinery for registering and enforcing wages agreements, should remove the incentive, or the necessity, to resort to the weapon of the strike or the lock-out in many cases which occasioned the use of such weapons in the past. However, I know many people consider it is practicable to make strikes illegal, and to institute some system of compulsory arbitration or establish some form of industrial tribunal. I have made some research in the matter and I have not been able to find any case outside those States with a dictatorial form of Government, such as Russia or Germany or Italy, where such a system, when attempted, proved workable. I do not think that, in present circumstances, it is possible to operate any system of compulsory arbitration in the Saorstát. It is much preferable that rates of wages in industry should be regulated by agreement between employers and representatives of the workers; and it has been the purpose of my Department to institute permanent conciliation machinery for different trades wherever, and whenever, possible. There are now in existence some 12 of those conciliation boards, composed of representatives of the employers and the men engaged in the different industries. Meetings of these boards were held, at fairly regular intervals, in the course of the past year and, through them, many differences, which might have led to stoppages of work, were composed.
In passing, I desire to refer to the fact that legislation relating to trade unions in the Saorstát is in many respects old, while all of it was inherited from the British Parliament. It is, perhaps, not entirely applicable to our circumstances here. The question of the revision of that legislation is bound to arise in the near future. In any event, I think we should have our own code in such matters and not have to work upon legislation designed by another Parliament for another country. As, however, the matter is one of great complexity, I shall welcome the views of responsible bodies and, particularly, trade union bodies, as to the action which should be taken.
Another section of my Department which has been particularly busy in the course of the past year is that which deals with foreign trade. The increased work which devolved upon that Department was a consequence of the nature of the trade treaties now being negotiated. In the past, trade treaties to which this country was a party were, in the main, based on most-favoured nation clauses. That form of treaty has now been entirely superseded by trade agreements providing for exchange, as between one country and another, of set quantities of specified goods. As Deputies can well understand, treaties of that kind involve a much greater amount of staff work both before their negotiation, and afterwards, because of the necessity of keeping in continuous detailed review their operations during their periods of currency. During the course of the year, treaties of that kind were effected with Germany, Spain and Belgium, while a trade arrangement was come to with Great Britain. As all these matters have already been discussed at length and on many occasions here, I do not think I need refer to them further.
During the course of the year, there was also particular activity in the section of the Department dealing with mines and minerals. I am not now trying to prejudice the report of the Committee that sat in the course of the year but the mere existence of that Committee did not prevent the important work of my Department on mines and minerals from proceeding. We have received, up to date, under the Mines and Minerals Act, 61 applications for mining leases. Of these, 19 have been granted. The remainder are in different stages of progress. Under the relevant section of the Mines and Minerals Act, two grants of mining rights have been made and other important cases are about to come before the Mining Board. It may interest Deputies who remember the discussions upon the Mines and Minerals Act, in 1931, to know that, in practice, it has been found that few mining rights applications proceed to finality, for the reason that persons against whom the application is made find it in their interest to come to terms with the applicants. About 50 grants have been made out of relief funds for the purpose of mineral exploration and development. The total of these grants during the past three financial years is about £42,000. The principal mining and quarrying industries assisted out of these grants were those concerned with the production of coal, slate, limestone, marble, brick-clay and silica. The grants have been instrumental, in almost all cases, in bringing about increased or more efficient production. In accordance with the usual requirements of the Government in the administration of relief fund moneys, the percentage of the grants which went in payment of wages to workers ranged between 85 and 100.
During the course of the year, two definite investigations of mineral deposits were undertaken by the State. I have already referred to those in an earlier debate this afternoon. They related to coal and iron in the neighbourhood of Arigna, County Leitrim, and to coal deposits in Slieveardagh, County Tipperary. The actual operations under these explorations have extended over the last two financial years. In the case of the Arigna area, five bore-holes have been carried to varying depths, and three cuttings were also opened for the purpose of examining the occurrence of coal and iron in the area. The work was undertaken by a group of French firms which combined as "the Associated Contractors (Ireland)." The actual boring and other operations on the site have been finished for about a month or six weeks, and analysis of the cores and other specimens obtained is in progress. I expect to have that report before the end of the present month. In the case of Slieveardagh, certain borings are being made by a firm of contractors, and drifts are being driven under the supervision of a resident engineer employed by the Department, the whole scheme being prepared, advised upon and supervised by a firm of consulting mining engineers of London.
I might mention in this connection a group which has become interested in the copper deposits in the Bunmahon district of County Waterford. That group has obtained certain leases from private interests, where the minerals are in private ownership and certain mining rights, under the Mines and Minerals Act of 1931, where the rights are also in private ownership, and it has not been found practicable to make arrangements for a lease. The group is also in negotiation with the Department with a view to leases in areas where the ownership of the mineral rights is in the State. Assuming further exploratory work, which this group has in contemplation, to justify it, the group has in mind large-scale development of the copper resources of the district. We have been discussing turf, under the Turf Bill, during the greater part of the evening, and in consequence I do not think that it is necessary to refer at length to the work of the Turf Development Board, although that is a matter which arises on the Estimate, as provision is made in the Estimate to defray the expenses of the board's work.
I wish to refer in a general way to the figure in the Book of Estimates of expenditure to be incurred under the Industrial Alcohol Act. The total provision in the Estimates in connection with the industrial alcohol scheme is £226,510. Of that amount, £134,600 is in respect of expenditure of a capital nature and includes £80,000, part cost of the erection of five distilleries, and £49,600, part cost of the plant and equipment, including a lump sum payment of £5,000 in respect of the use of certain patented machinery installed, and £5,000, royalties estimated to be payable under the contract with the technical advisers employed. Provision for management and working expenses amounts to £91,910, of which £52,185 relates to the purchase of potatoes. Against this expenditure it is estimated that there should be receipts of about £80,000 from the sales of alcohol and the residual wash, which will be brought to credit under the Exchequer "extra receipts." These receipts fall short of the expenditure, as Deputies will have noticed, but account has to be taken of the circumstance that there must necessarily be some quantity of alcohol produced at the close of the present financial year and not yet distributed or paid for by the local distributors. If credit were taken for this production, it is estimated that there would be a surplus. When the Estimate for the financial year 1935-36 was introduced, it was hoped that the erection of the five distilleries would have been carried out during the past financial year. Owing to difficulty in procuring suitable sites, and other circumstances which delayed the arrangements for the contract for the buildings beyond the season when building work could be expeditiously carried out, it proved to be impracticable to begin the works at a date to enable them to be completed in time to deal with the 1935 potato crop. The distilleries are now in course of erection, and it is contemplated that they will be finished and equipped to begin operations by next September.
In consequence of the delay the only expenditure falling on to the Vote for 1935-36 in respect of buildings and plant will be about £55,000. The total cost of the distilleries and plant under contracts entered into amounts approximately to £185,000. That figure is in excess of the original estimate, alterations having been made for greater efficiency and more economical working. It was originally intended, for example, that the alcohol from the five distilleries should be brought to a central rectifying station, whereas it is now provided that each distillery will rectify its own alcohol. The cost of copper and other materials has advanced considerably since the original estimate was framed. With regard to the cost of buildings, as revealed by contracts entered into, the remote situation of the distilleries, with the consequent difficulties of transportation and supervision, have also had some bearing on the increase over the estimated cost. The whole scheme is of an experimental character, and its success will have to be tested by results.
I should perhaps refer to the work of the Industrial Research Council during the course of the year. There is published each year a report of the work done by the Council. The report for last year was published in June, and made available for Deputies. I would like to refer to some of the investigations which the Council have in progress, and which have aroused some interest. The first of these relates to the extraction of waxes from peat. The research to develop a commercial process for extracting from peat, waxes suitable for industrial purposes, is being continued at University College, Cork. Plant has been erected and is in operation for the production of waxes on a semi-commercial scale. The experimental work has been mainly concerned with the removal of the small amount of impurities present in crude wax. The Industrial Research Council is very well satisfied with the progress which has been made on that particular item of research. The same applies also to investigations upon which a considerable sum has been spent, on the utilisation of sea-weeds and which has been carried out under the auspices of the Council. I have referred already to the work which has been done bearing upon the efficiency of classes of turf-burning apparatus. That report will shortly be available. Investigations have been carried out on the utilisation of skimmed milk powder in bread and on the china clay deposits in Portacloy, County Mayo. It will be necessary to have adequate geological trials there to prove the distribution of the deposit before determining the degree of uniformity of the material, and also to obtain data for costings purposes before a definite recommendation can be made on the commercial possibilities of the deposits. A detailed report is in course of preparation on the investigation of the possibilities of the commercial use of the colloidal clay at Cloyne, County Cork. There are a number of other matters upon which investigations have been made, and particular researches were undertaken for commercial firms. The usual information on these matters will be made available to Deputies when the report is published.
I think I need not refer at length to the work of the statistics branch. As Deputies know, this is a very important year for that branch, because the census is being taken, not merely the census of population, which is at present in progress, but also the complete industrial census which is being undertaken this year, as distinct from the partial census taken in previous years. The work of the statistics branch has increased considerably, apart altogether from its special activities upon the census, because of the changed nature of our trade and shipping statistics and of our trade required much more activity on the part of the statistics branch staff than was formerly necessary. I do not know that I need refer at any great length to the work of the transport branch. It has been engaged in the course of the year in carrying out the duties of the Department under the transport legislation of 1933.
I might, perhaps, refer to the work that has been done in the development of civil aviation, but I think it would be better to leave that over until I am moving a Bill dealing with civil aviation which will shortly be introduced. That will be a more appropriate occasion on which to indicate the various arrangements made or in contemplation. I had hoped that the cross-Channel air service would have been in operation by this, but certain legal difficulties arose which delayed that slightly. There has been, however, no alteration in the plans and the service should commence in the very near future.
