asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce why he has instituted an inquiry into the scrap metal trade.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Scrap Metal Trade.
46.
I presume that the Deputy is referring to the inquiry which the Fair Trade Commission announced on 22nd June. I did not institute this inquiry. It is being held by the commission on their own initiative, under the provisions of section 7, subsection (1) of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1953.
Is the Minister aware that Irish Steel Holdings were not contacted in relation to this at all, or their views asked for before a decision to have an inquiry was made? Is he further aware that the association that deals with the assemblers of scrap metal have disassociated themselves from the request for an inquiry? Is he further aware that one of the firms that asked for the inquiry is a Belfast firm trading in a very small part of this country and another firm is a new company? Does he think it is wise, bearing in mind what he said, and I agree with him, on the Control of Exports Bill within the last few weeks in this House that such an inquiry should be held?
I was unaware of two of the points mentioned by the Deputy.
I am glad the Minister is now aware of them.
I am pretty constantly in contact with Irish Steel Holdings but I did not know that they had been unaware of it until it was announced. I was also unaware that a group have disassociated themselves from this request. My information is that there was a petition submitted by a group of companies. I agree with Deputy Donegan's remarks about two of those companies being based in Belfast. There had been, on the overall, so many general criticisms——
Have we not all been plagued with complaints about it?
Yes.
——of Irish Steel Holdings in this regard that the Fair Trade Commission were probably right in deciding to go ahead and have the inquiry which can clear up the whole issue.
Does the Minister not agree that he himself cleared up the whole issue in his speech on the Control of Exports Bill?
I endeavoured to clear it up.
And does the Minister not think he did? He cleared it up in my mind.
Everybody is not as open-minded.
(Interruptions.)
I have the greatest worry about the employment in Irish Steel Holdings. I want to see it maintained. That is why I am being quite specific in relation to this question. I realise the Minister was uninformed.
Before the announcement was made by the Fair Trade Commission I was informed, as Minister, that they were proposing to have this inquiry but whether I agreed or otherwise I was not going to interfere.
As I am not satisfied with the nature of the reply I propose to raise the matter on the Adjournment.
May I ask what would be the position if everything the Fair Trade Commission decided to investigate was the subject of debate in this House before the investigation took place? I think we are going completely outside what we should be doing here.
Do the terms of reference cover all the complaints that have been, rightly or wrongly, made? Are they broad enough to cover them?
Is the Minister aware that considerable numbers of itinerants are engaged in this trade? Were they made aware of this inquiry? I am sure Deputy Donegan would be very interested in knowing their feelings on the matter.
(Interruptions.)
Does the Minister wish to reply to his turnip snagger on the far side?
Would he reply to me? More to the point.
Is that the Fine Gael attitude to agriculture?
Are the terms of reference sufficiently broad?
I do not seem to have a copy of the terms of reference but this is an inquiry which the Fair Trade Commission are making on their own initiative. I could even be accused of predetermining the outcome if I were to say at this stage that the terms of reference were or were not adequate.
The Minister will recall that the question of whether the Fair Trade Commission's terms of reference were broad enough was raised in this House.