asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the circumstances in which his Department recently purchased a consignment of tyres for motor vehicles from Britain.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Purchase of Tyres.
8.
Current contracts for motor tyres for the Government Service are held by
(a) an Irish manufacturer who supplies 92 per cent approximately of all requirements. About 96 per cent of the tyres supplied by this firm are home produced and about four per cent are imported, and
(b) three British firms who supply approximately eight per cent of all requirements, mainly tyres not produced in this country.
It is not possible to identify the particular consignment referred to in the question. The tyres in question would have been ordered from one of the British firms either because the particular items are not manufactured here and an import licence is available or because they were obtainable at lesser cost from a British firm under a quota licence. The quota licence held by my Department represents only 2 per cent of annual requirements.
We can be assured that the Department did not smuggle them anyway.