asked the Taoiseach to what extent the Anglo-Irish Free Trade Area Agreement contributed to this country's declining trade balance over the past few years.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement.
1.
The deficit in our balance of trade with the United Kingdom, like our overall trade deficit, is due to the general trend towards increasing imports rather than to the operation of the Anglo-Irish Free Trade Area Agreement.
I may mention that the trade deficit with the United Kingdom, which amounted to £63.8 million in 1969 and £59.9 million in 1970, has fallen by almost £9 million in the first five months of this year, compared with the same period of last year.
Is the Taoiseach aware that the country is becoming alarmed at the general trend of an increase in imports, the effect it is having on many industries and the fact that many of our industries are closing down and people are losing their jobs? Can the Taoiseach not do anything about it and would he not initiate a real Buy Irish Campaign?
That will be mentioned in another answer.
Could the Taoiseach not attempt to answer the question? The reply he has given does not answer it at all. The question asks to what extent this agreement has contributed to the country's declining trade balance. The Taoiseach has stated that there are other reasons for it but could he not attempt to answer the question by quantifying the effects in cases where the removal of tariffs has had an effect and, in cases where in regard to competitive imports there has been a perceptible rise in the UK proportion of imports, could he not give the House some information as to what the amount is and what proportion of the total trade deficit is attributable to this?
If the Deputy would like to put down a question about those specific details I should be glad to give him the answer. In the meantime I think the Deputy is aware that the great bulk of the increase is due to our making ourselves less competitive than we were some years ago. That has caused some of the loss of employment that we have suffered. The extent to which the effects of the Anglo-Irish Free Trade Area Agreement, as such, have contributed to that loss of employment is much smaller than the other factor.
But this is a specific question. It did ask the Taoiseach this. I do not know how much more specific one can be. The question asked to what extent it has contributed and the Taoiseach is aware of how this calculation could be done. Could he not give us the answer?
I could, perhaps, say that since 1967 up to the end of 1970 the overall increase in our imports was, I think, just less than 70 per cent. The increase in imports from the UK was about 75 per cent. Therefore, having regard to the overall increase the impact of the Anglo-Irish Free Trade Area Agreement was very marginal.
(Interruptions.)
Does the Taoiseach not think that the lowering of tariffs on imports from the UK has resulted in dumping of British products on our markets?
No, Sir. Dumping and lowering of tariffs are two separate things. I should like to ask the Deputy if he is in favour of our application for entry to EEC?
That is a separate question.
The Deputy cannot have it both ways.
(Interruptions.)
At least the Taoiseach will agree that EEC does bring some clear advantages, unlike the Free Trade Area Agreement?
Could the Taoiseach say what remedial action the Government intend to take to restore our competitiveness on the English market especially?
That action has been taken and I think the effects have already been seen because every 12 month period ending every month this year there is a reduction in the difference between imports and exports.
(Interruptions.)
The final information the Taoiseach has given is completely wrong. For the last five months our imports showed an increase over the corresponding figure for last year of over £33 million. The figures were given here a week ago.
Will the Deputy listen to what I said?
In the first five months of this year the increase was £33 million over last year.
The Deputy asked a question but he does not want an answer.
The Taoiseach chooses his words with care so that they mean nothing.
All right, I shall tell the Deputy what they mean. There has been a reduction in our trade deficit for every 12 month period ending each month in this year; in other words, from January to January, February to February and March to March. That is what I mean.
(Interruptions.)
Order. Will Deputies please allow questions to continue? Question No. 2.
Is it true that for the first five months of this year our adverse trade balance increased by £33 million?
Will Deputy L'Estrange please resume his seat? I have called Question No. 2. We have 106 questions to deal with.
The Taoiseach is not going to cod us like the man in the Park did with the Oxford dictionary.
2.
asked the Taoiseach what particular advantages have derived to the Irish economy from the Anglo-Irish Free Trade Area Agreement.
The Anglo-Irish Free Trade Area Agreement provides a framework for the expansion of trade between the two countries as well as direct agricultural and industrial benefits. On the agricultural side, it guarantees us duty-free access to the United Kingdom market for agricultural products generally and unrestricted access for store animals, limits the circumstances in which imports from Ireland into the United Kingdom could be subject to regulation and enables us to participate in the British agricultural price-support system. On the industrial side, we benefited by the immediate removal of existing British duties on Irish goods. The most important of these were the man-made-fibre duties which affected a wide range of goods, principally in the textile field.
Is the Taoiseach not aware that the agricultural benefits are no more than £3 million or £4 million and if he does not accept that figure would he give us his own estimate and tell us how it is arrived at?
I shall not give any figures. Were it not for the Free Trade Area Agreement we would have been wiped out in our agricultural exports in the British market.
The 1948 trade agreement gave us all the benefits we have.
(Interruptions.)
I cannot give the Deputy all the arguments but they are there in several articles guaranteeing access and guaranteeing support prices.
We had access in 1932——
That is precisely why we entered into this trade agreement. Our access was being eroded year after year.
It was eroded. The Fianna Fáil Government in 1932 eroded it.
(Interruptions.)
We as a Government did not operate the British——
(Interruptions.)
If I am not permitted to answer questions—the Deputy asked me who eroded it—will the Chair allow me to answer that? Will Deputy FitzGerald agree with me when I say it was the British Government's deficit price support policy in the British market that contributed to it and eroded it?
Would the Taoiseach not agree that what was eroded was the preferential margin due to the fact that the 1939 agreement was expressed in specific money terms?
We were being eroded not only in money terms but in quantity, in value, in every way.
I am calling Question No. 3.
Is the Taoiseach aware that the guaranteed prices were not passed on fully to the Irish farmers under the Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement?
Of course, they were.
They were not passed on fully.
The Government did not get it, anyway.
I am calling Question No. 3.