asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he has ascertained the future prospects of the bottle-making industry in Saorstát Eireann; if the industry has now ceased to exist; and, if he will take the necessary steps to have removed the tariff which is now being paid for the protection of an industry which does not exist; if the Minister will consider the desirability of discharging or modifying the order prescribing standard bottles under the Intoxicating Liquor (General) Act, 1924, in view of the fact that it imposes a useless and entirely unnecessary burden on traders.

Efforts are being continued to secure the re-starting of this industry and the retention of the import duty is necessary to give those efforts a reasonable prospect of success.

The order prescribing standard bottles is a matter for the Minister for Justice and not for me, but in so far as I have had experience of its operation through the administration of the Weights and Measures Acts it has proved a substantial protection to the purchasing public.