asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he is aware that ammunition for shot-guns is practically unobtainable at present from Irish sources, and if, in view of the inability of farmers, owing to the shortage, to protect their crops from the ravages of fur and feather vermin, he will, during the present crisis, permit the import, free of duty, of sporting ammunition.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Supplies of Shot-gun Ammunition.
I am informed that there has been no appreciable diminution in the sales of shot-gun cartridges of Irish manufacture for the first eight months of the present year as compared with the corresponding period of previous years. Furthermore, licences for the importation, free of duty, of shot-gun cartridges have been issued freely for some time past although actually no such cartridges have been imported in this year. Other types of sporting ammunition are not manufactured in this country but are liable to a revenue duty of 15 per cent. ad valorem (10 per cent. preferential) on importation.