asked the Taoiseach if he will give a breakdown of the imports of £35 million from Germany; and the amount of such imports which could have been produced in Ireland.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Imports from Germany.
3.
With your permission, Sir, I propose to circulate in the Official Report a statement giving the information, required in the first part of the question, for the calendar year 1968.
Information regarding the amount of such imports which could have been produced in Ireland is not available. The Government are providing generous inducements to industrialists to promote increased industrial production but it is for industrialists themselves to assess, in the light of the technical and other factors involved, what it is economically feasible to produce. Only an insignificant part of the imports from Germany in 1968 consisted of agricultural products.
Following is the statement:
IMPORTS from Germany (Federal Republic) during 1968
|
Section and Division |
Value |
|
£ |
|
|
Live Animals, Food and Food preparations |
148,899 |
|
Live animals |
2,700 |
|
Meat and meat preparations |
363 |
|
Dairy products and eggs |
5,036 |
|
Fish and fish preparations |
7,677 |
|
Cereals and cereal preparations |
11,604 |
|
Fruit and vegetables |
74,981 |
|
Sugar, sugar preparations and honey |
470 |
|
Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manufactures thereof |
11,295 |
|
Feeding stuffs for animals (excl. unmilled cereals) |
17,094 |
|
Miscellaneous food preparations |
17,679 |
|
Beverages and Tobacco |
119,929 |
|
Beverages |
119,349 |
|
Tobacco |
580 |
|
Raw Materials except fuels |
336,027 |
|
Hides, skins and furskins, undressed |
3,436 |
|
Oilseeds, nuts and kernels |
609 |
|
Crude rubber |
36,554 |
|
Wood, lumber and cork |
93,151 |
|
Pulp and paper waste |
— |
|
Textile fibres and waste of fibres and fabrics |
100,350 |
|
Crude fertilisers and minerals |
89,574 |
|
Metal ores and scrap |
105 |
|
Crude animal and vegetable materials, n.e.s. |
12,248 |
|
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials |
2,221,507 |
|
Coal, coke, briquettes |
1,068,506 |
|
Petroleum and petroleum products |
1,152,497 |
|
Gas and electricity |
504 |
|
Animal and vegetable oils and fats, natural and processed |
407,567 |
|
Animal oils and fats |
2,922 |
|
Fixed vegetable oils and fats |
4,590 |
|
Animal and vegetable oils and fats, processed |
400,055 |
|
Chemicals |
4,918,531 |
|
Organic and inorganic chemicals |
685,870 |
|
Mineral tar and crude chemicals from coal, petroleum, natural gas |
630 |
|
Dyeing, tanning and colouring materials |
484,067 |
|
Medicinal and pharmaceutical products |
505,921 |
|
Essential oils and perfume materials, perfumery, cosmetics, soaps, etc. |
82,983 |
|
Fertilisers, manufactured |
1,623,586 |
|
Explosives and pyrotechnic products |
7,095 |
|
Plastic materials, regener- |
£ |
|
ated cellulose and artificial |
|
|
resins |
942,839 |
|
Chemical materials and products, n.e.s |
585,540 |
|
Manufactured goods, classified by material |
7,268,224 |
|
Leather, leather manufactures and dressed furskins |
193,179 |
|
Rubber manufactures, n.e.s. |
206,430 |
|
Wood and cork manufactures (excl. furniture) |
95,848 |
|
Paper, paperboard and manufactures thereof |
254,662 |
|
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles (excl. clothing and headgear) |
2,194,102 |
|
Non-metallic mineral manufactures |
439,523 |
|
Iron and steel |
2,023,849 |
|
Non-ferrous metals |
603,851 |
|
Manufactures of metal, n.e.s. |
1,256,780 |
|
Machinery and transport equipment |
17,496,091 |
|
Machinery (non-electric) |
8,662,384 |
|
Electrical machinery, goods and apparatus |
3,940,175 |
|
Transport equipment |
4,893,532 |
|
Manufactured articles, n.e.s. |
2,563,793 |
|
Plumbing, heating and lighting fixtures and fittings |
295,755 |
|
Furniture, travel goods, etc. |
65,641 |
|
Clothing and headgear |
111,374 |
|
Footwear |
15,231 |
|
Professional, scientific, photographic, etc., goods; watches and clocks |
831,743 |
|
Miscellaneous manufactured articles |
1,244,049 |
|
Parcel post and special transactions |
422,639 |
|
TOTAL IMPORTS |
35,903,207 |
Will the Taoiseach not agree that the inducement up to now must have been a failure because we had an adverse trade balance of £27 million with Germany last year? Would he not also agree that we should try to make a barter agreement with this country, especially in view of the fact that the importation of industrial products from Germany is doing untold harm to our industries here and to the workers employed in them? Will the Taoiseach also admit that we have 70,000 fewer people employed today than we had ten years ago?
I do not admit that.
The figures are there. 70,000 fewer——
Will the Deputy be quiet and allow me to answer the supplementary? I do not admit for a moment that our inducement programmes for exports have been a failure. On the contrary, our industrial exports have been increasing year after year to the extent that they have reached an all-time record and I have every confidence they will continue to increase.
Does the Taoiseach think it is a healthy sign to have an adverse trade balance of £27 million with Germany? We purchased £35 million from her last year; she purchased only £8 million from us.
Naturally we would prefer that it would be in balance rather than against us.
What is the use of preferring it if nothing is done about it?