asked the Taoiseach the number of refrigerators which were imported in the first three months of (a) 1975 and (b) 1976.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Refrigerator Imports.
1.
Imports of domestic electric refrigerators numbered 1,592 in the period JanuaryMarch, 1975, and 23,044 in the corresponding period of 1976.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary agree that an increase of this magnitude in the import of refrigerators will cause havoc in our industries producing electrical products?
The Deputy is entering into the area of policy which is a matter for the appropriate Minister. This is a statistical question.
It might interest the Deputy to know that a possible reason for this is that the rates of import duty on these commodities were reduced as and from 1st January, 1976.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that the total annual sales of refrigerators here is between 30,000 and 40,000 and that the imports for three months reached 20,000?
I know that informal contacts which the Central Statistics Office had indicated that the very high figure for the first three months of this year is due to re-stocking. That is a very healthy sign for the economy and I am sure the Deputy will agree with that.
I hope that is not the attitude the Minister for Industry and Commerce will adopt or we will have considerable unemployment as a result.
That is not a question.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that the imports from Russia number approximately 1,164 compared with no imports last year and that the imports from Britain number approximately 15,000 compared with a few hundred last year? I understand that the imports from Britain are bought through an agent and I ask the Parliamentary Secretary to refer that matter to the Minister for Industry and Commerce to see whether or not the imports into Ireland from Britain are in fact first imported into Britain from other countries.
I will refer that matter to the Minister but I should like to confirm that Britain is the largest exporter of refrigerators to us.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary agree that such an enormous increase in the number of imports is suspect? Will he have the matter examined?
Order, I am calling the next question.