Private Deputies' Business. - Distribution of Paraffin—Motion. – Dáil Éireann (10th Dáil) – Wednesday, 18 Feb 1942

Private Deputies' Business. - Distribution of Paraffin—Motion.

Mr. Hughes

I move the motion standing in my name, and the names of Deputies D. Morrissey and MacEoin:—

That Dáil Eireann is of opinion that the present method of allocating and distributing for domestic and agricultural purposes the available supplies of paraffin is causing unnecessary hardships and demands that a better method be brought into operation without delay.

First of all, I would like to say that I personally am chiefly concerned with the allocation of kerosene for agricultural purposes and I have experienced a good deal of trouble through representations from various farmers complaining of shortage of supplies. At the time the motion was put the whole system of distribution was, to my mind, chaotic in the Department. Since that time the situation has improved to a considerable extent and I think it is fair to say that the officials in the Department who are responsible for the administration of the scheme as it now stands are prepared, on representations by Deputies and others, to do all they can to speed up the distribution of kerosene for agricultural purposes. Where a shortage exists or where tractors are standing idle, they try to send out a permit without delay. To that extent at all events, I think the situation has definitely improved.

There is, however, this aspect, that the Minister insists on users of agricultural kerosene completing forms giving a monthly return of the work done and the amount of work proposed to be done in the coming month. I suppose that has undoubtedly helped to tighten up any leakage of kerosene there might be through the illicit use of kerosene but, at the same time, it has caused some delay. I think the Minister should appreciate that the one thing the agricultural community hate above anything else is the necessity to take a pen to write a letter or complete forms. Some of them may be able to do it pretty well, but quite a number of the ordinary type of hardworking farmer find it a most irritating job to have to complete forms and to keep records of their work. For that reason, it has caused loss of time and has resulted in some tractors standing idle. In the last few weeks I invariably found where a farmer complained that he had not got his permit that it was because he had not completed the forms which the Minister's Department insisted on his completing or that he had failed to complete them properly, that he had made some mistake which was being chased by the officers of the Minister's Department and until that mistake could be accounted for the man simply had to let his tractors stand idle.

That is a thing that, to my mind, ought not to occur or, at least, the Minister should try to avoid it as far as possible. I suggested on occasions before and I again suggest—I do not suppose the Minister is prepared to consider this—the possibility of decentralising this service. There are agents of the distributing company in the different distributing stations all over the country. We have not so many distributing stations in the country. Those agents are a store of information in themselves. They have been distributing kerosene to the agricultural community for a good many years. They know their customers. They know the type of farmers they are. They have a good idea of the size of their holdings and of the amount of work that has to be performed by their tractors.

That information was there all the time and no attempt has been made by the Minister to make use of it. The biggest distributing station in the country so far as agricultural oil is concerned is at Carlow, which serves an intensive tillage district there. I have no doubt that if it was possible for the Minister to send down one or two representatives of his Department to each distributing station, to set up a small office at the distributing station, with the assistance of the agents of the petrol distributing company, they would be able to solve all their difficulties on the spot. The farmer looking for his supply of kerosene would go into the local office of the Department of Supplies there and, with the co-operation of the distributing company's agent, you would have the three interests served right on the spot and any difficulty that might arise could be straightened out there and then. In that way you would ensure that on a fine day or a fine week, such as we have at the present time, when it is so necessary to have our people all out on the job of cultivating the land and getting in the crop, no tillage implement would be standing idle.

With the very best intentions and the very best effort on the part of the Minister's officials who are dealing with this matter at the present time, it is my experience that tractors, even at present, and I admit that the things has been considerably improved, are occasionally standing idle, for some reason or other, through some error in the completing of the monthly returns, for instance, that the amount shown as consumed does not tally with the amount issued. That has to be accounted for before there is any further issue. With the slow postal service at the present time, while the farmer is accounting for that and satisfying the officers of the Department that the kerosene has been used to good purpose, he may have his tractor standing idle for a few days. That is a thing that, to my mind, ought to be avoided at all costs.

If the Minister is not prepared to consider the question of decentralisation, I would suggest to him that he might consider this aspect of the matter at all events: the delay occurs at the end of the month; a man must make his returns at the end of the month, and before the new permit comes along for the succeeding month it is quite possible that he will not have sufficient to carry on. It struck me that that situation might be helped if the Minister would consider giving a basic monthly allowance for each tractor, that basic allowance, irrespective of what returns were made by the farmer or tractor owner, to arrive at the beginning of each month, just as a lorry owner gets his basic allowance at the beginning of the month and afterwards gets his supplementary allowance on representations being made by him as to the amount of work he has to do. I think the adoption of that system might help to avoid the unnecessary and irritating loss of time which does occur at the end of each month. If the Minister is not prepared—and I do not think that he is, judging from his attitude in the past— to consider the question of decentralising this whole service of kerosene distribution, he might consider, as an improvement on the present method, giving a basic allowance for every tractor, that allowance to be given to the owner on the 1st of each month, so that he can carry on with that amount until he makes the necessary representations and completes the necessary forms for his requirements during the month.

As I have said, I am mainly concerned with the requirements for agricultural purposes. The Minister, in replying to a Parliamentary question of mine to-day, informed the House that up to the present no arrangements have been made with regard to supplies of motor oil or motor fuels of any sort for the coming 12 months. I think it was about this time 12 months that an arrangement was made for the supply of 20,000,000 gallons of petrol and 10,000,000 gallons of kerosene. That agreement expires some time this month—I do not know the exact date —and I think the people are anxious to know what the position is. A substantial amount of kerosene will be required for agricultural purposes, to get in the crops for the spring, and an increased amount will be required next harvest for threshing operations, and if there is any doubt at all about our future supplies for those purposes I think there should be a reduction in the amount allowed for domestic use. At all costs, we must secure sufficient to do our ploughing and cultivation, and try to build up a reserve for the harvest.

On the question of oil for domestic use, I must say that I have not heard very many complaints, except that again in this case you have a flat rate for domestic use irrespective of individual requirements. In other words, you have the man living in a cottage, who simply wants light for his house and has no work to do outside, getting the same amount of paraffin oil as the farmer who has outside work to do, and sometimes the dairy farmer who has to milk early. From now on that problem will not arise to the same extent, because the days are stretching out a good bit, but farmers have found it very difficult up to now to do their work in the dark, and no effort appears to have been made by the Minister and his Department to meet their requirements. Evidently, the Department took the line of least resistance and decided that there should be a flat rate for domestic use. I appreciate the difficulty of having differentiation between one section of the community and another. Of course, it is objectionable to have differentiation, but, while a gallon of paraffin oil might be ample for domestic use in a very small house, the same amount would not be nearly sufficient to meet the requirements of an agricultural holding. As I have said, if there is only a very limited quantity of kerosene available, we must ensure that there will be sufficient to do the agricultural work during the spring, and if possible to build up a reserve for threshing operations.

Mr. O'Donovan

I beg to second the motion proposed by Deputy Hughes. I have very little to add to what he has said, because, when this motion was tabled, conditions were not anything like as favourable as they are to-day. Still, there is room for further improvement because I think the arrangements made at that time were hastily considered, due to the crisis, and that there is now need for a revision of the whole kerosene situation. I think it would serve a very useful purpose, and perhaps ensure a more equitable distribution of kerosene than we have at the moment.

There is one aspect of the matter that I would ask the Minister to consider. When the issue of permits was notified through the Press—I think it was last June—numbers of people who for years back had always kept a good supply of kerosene in their houses did not think it necessary to fill up their permits. They had a full year's supply and did not fill in the permits at the time. They find themselves now in the position that they are left practically without oil. There is one case of a proprietor of a hotel who has a little oil engine for electric light in his hotel, which is at a very important railway junction in West Cork. He used to use a certain quantity of kerosene for working his engine for charging batteries. He had a supply of kerosene and when that supply was exhausted he applied to the Department and found that he was cut out completely. That has been remedied to a certain extent, but he is not getting anything like sufficient to light his hotel. A case of that kind needs further consideration.

There is also the case of people who have incubators and hovers. Numbers of these also had their supply of oil in. These cases should be examined on their merits one by one, and where there is a genuine application by a person who, through absolute ignorance of the regulations at the time and having a sufficient supply in, did not apply for a permit at the time, I suggest to the Minister that an inquiry is very necessary. These people are serving a very useful purpose, and have been accustomed for years and years to rear chickens. They are deprived of oil now simply because they had a sufficient supply and did not apply for oil last year. They thought they did what was right, but they should have kept their reserves and would be getting a supply all the time. They thought that, in a time of crisis, they were good and useful citizens, and served a useful purpose in not applying for oil when there was a scarcity. Their cases certainly should be considered.

There is also a case I would like to put to the Minister with regard to paraffin for tractors. Deputy Hughes referred to ploughs being idle. I have experience of that, too. I also had experience, at the time this motion was put down, of threshing sets being idle. I myself had to ring up the Department of Supplies more than once, and more than twice, from Clonakilty, at a cost of 5/3 each time, and the owners of tractors had to ring up, and it cost them a lot and held them up for days. In one case, a man was held up for ten days through some little mistake in filling up his form—held up for ten days in the middle of the threshing season. We had the same experience in regard to a tractor ploughman the other day. He rang up the Department of Supplies immediately. Whether it is the fault of the Department of Supplies or the fault of the distributor, I do not know, but there may be some blame on both sides. This is further strengthening my case for a revision of the whole situation.

There is also the case of the small millers in the country. One man in an isolated country mill, grinding wheat and crushing a little share of oats to keep the life in his family and the families of other people around him and having oat threshing for animal feeding, is held up for nine or ten days. In one case the stuff in his mill was taken to a water mill ten or 12 miles away to be ground. Whether it is the fault of the distributor or the Department I do not know, but I rather think it is the fault of the distributor in this case, as he got a permit later on. In any case, this should not occur, and I am again making a case for a revision of the whole situation.

Another case I want to make for more equitable distribution is in regard to the importance along our seaboard of the sand dredgers. They are worked on little oil engines and could work the 24 hours of the day if they had paraffin. There would be a demand for work 24 hours of the day, having three relays, and there would be a demand for this dredged sand, which could be carried by rail or in lorries inland for 30 or 40 miles. In one particular case, where I applied on a man's behalf to the Department of Supplies, and where he was getting 30 gallons of oil for the month, which would not meet one-third of his requirements, there was no increase. A man of that kind was serving a useful national purpose in providing the wherewithal to enable the farmer to produce wheat and beet and other things that the country wants. There is no reason why kerosene should be held up, if it is available anywhere, where a man is performing useful service to the State. The Minister should have in his own Department my recommendation on this man's behalf, and I could give him the name again if he wants it.

He is only one. There are several others like him along the seaboard who require kerosene at this particular time, when there is extraordinary demand for this form of coral sand. I hope that the Minister will give consideration to cases of that sort.

With regard to the domestic side of it, Deputy Hughes has dealt with that It is very hard to make a distinction between one house and another, but the Minister has made a distinction between them, as he gave an extra supply to the dairy farmer. Who are not dairy farmers? Who are dairy and tillage farmers? We are not supplying milk to the cities and towns, but our work is as important as that of dairy farmers. In fact, we are more useful, as we are working, and anxious to work, the full hours from daylight to dark on the land, and we would get up in the morning if we had the oil to let us do it and attend to the milking of cattle and feeding and so on, and we would do the same at night if we had oil. But we are stopped and have to do this in the hours from daylight to dark. It is holding up the whole work of the country. It would give us and all our men an extra hour in the morning and evening—two hours extra on the land—and surely that holds up the work. When a case was made for Deputy Corry, who was supplying milk to Cork City, surely a case could be made for giving a supply to Deputy O'Donovan doing his work in Clonakilty.

Deputy Hughes mentioned the man in the cottage. Nobody would like to deprive him of his light, but he has nothing to do, he has no cows to milk and nothing to do when he comes home from work but to light his small lamp, which will do in his nice comfortable little house. We, however, want it around from the pigs to the cattle, from the cattle to the fowl and from the fowl to something else, and we want it going around in the morning and at night. Of course, we are finished with that now, because under the law there is plenty of daylight; but when the time comes around again, I hope that the situation will be considered favourably by the Minister.

It is almost impossible to deal with all the aspects of this situation. There is the domestic side of it. I know from my own experience and from what I have heard from fathers like myself who have children going to school, that children come home with a heavy load of books and a lot of home lessons to do at night, and they have to learn all these and study these things and they are burning, not the midnight oil but the midnight dirty old candle. Then they have to get up in the morning with a headache and try to go to school. In a case of that sort, where there are children with home lessons to learn, consideration should be given, and I think that is the strongest case to be made for a full inquiry and a revision of a situation in the whole countryside. I know children who, as a result of studying through the winter with candle-light, have had to attend the oculist, who recommended them to get glasses. They are normal, strong, healthy children but because they had to work under such difficulties their sight failed and they complained of headaches.

There are some of the many aspects of the situation. I have drawn attention to a few important points and I hope that the Minister will give them serious consideration. He should, at least, let us have the revision that we ask for. Let us hope that before very long we will have a more equitable distribution.

Mr. Corry

I had no difficulty in telephoning.

Mr. McGilligan

And the kerosene would be in their hands next morning?

Mr. Corry

Yes.

Mr. McGilligan

Quick work. It is really impossible. It never happened.

Mr. Corry

Deputy McGilligan would say that considering the mess-up that he made of that Department for years. He has had long experience of it but apparently the officials got a bit of drilling since Deputy McGilligan left. They woke up. Some inquiries are needed with regard to the manner in which paraffin permits are being issued.

I heard of people in Cork City who have residences at Ballycotton and at other places along the sea coast which they visit during the summer months and I understand they have faithfully drawn their gallon of oil each month for the past three or four months. A little inquiry along that line would do no harm. It is our duty to stop wastage. I have heard of gentlemen living in Cork, which has its electric light supplies, and who have houses in Ballycotton or Garryvoe or other resorts where they go for their summer holidays obtaining paraffin supplies, and I think the Minister should make inquiries into that matter.

I admit there are serious administrative difficulties, but I do say that 20 per cent. of the kerosene is being drawn for purposes other than those intended. We can see many motor cars along the roads and there is black smoke coming from them; I am sure they are not all driven on petrol. A few inquiries in that direction would do no harm. There should be tightening up in regard to those supplies. I should like to refer to the dairy farmers sending milk to the city in motor vans. Their basic allowance is not at all sufficient.

Mr. Hughes

Do they run their cars on kerosene?

Mr. Corry

No, on petrol. Their allowance is not sufficient. I want to see fair play and when I find a Department doing its duty, I would not obstruct or complain.

Mr. Fagan

There is no doubt the Department have improved things lately, but there was a time last harvest when they held up a lot of farm machinery. I think they are not treating the farmers in my county fairly. Deputy Corry seems to have got plenty of paraffin oil for dairy people, but the farmers in the Midlands got only their gallon of paraffin. In the winter months the farmers were trying to feed their cattle and they had to go around in the dark. In many houses in the country there was no light and that was not treating the people fairly. In the towns the people have the electric light, but in many parts of the country farmers and their families were obliged to go to bed at 7 o'clock and 8 o'clock.

There should be better provision of paraffin oil than one gallon a month. The farmers have to work until 10 o'clock every night and there are numerous occasions around a farm when paraffin oil is very necessary. For example, when ewes are having their lambs they cannot be properly looked after unless the farmer has paraffin oil to light the lamp. Probably that is a point the Minister has not considered. Another custom in my part of the country is to leave a lamp burning in the field during the night in order to keep the foxes away. That cannot be done on one gallon a month. If you go out with the lamp at night to watch the sheep you may get back in half an hour or you may not get back until morning and your oil supply is gone in that way. Anyone who needs paraffin oil to look after lambing ewes should get it.

There is another matter to which I should like to refer in connection with a few cases in my county where there is a number of stud farms for thoroughbred horses. The custom is that when these mares are going to foal a lamp is left with them at night for two or three weeks or even a month. That lamp is there all the time until the foal is two or three weeks old. Also, in the case of sows having their bonhams lamps have to be left with them. These are things concerning the needs of farmers which were not thought about, and they are points that I want to bring up. I also found in a few cases of villages in my county that the shops find it impossible to carry on with a gallon of paraffin oil. In one case, unless there was an improvement lately, they will not be allowed more than a gallon although I asked for it. The Minister should consider the position of farmers in connection with sheep in the lambing season, stall feeding, stud farms for brood mares, sows, and so on. Paraffin oil is required in connection with all these cases.

Deputy O'Donovan also mentioned the children. At the present time we see our people going to England and everywhere else, and the children are being left behind and are left lacking in religion and a lot of things. I put that down to the bad system of education. To put it in a nutshell, whether Deputies will agree with me or not, no matter what they have to study, the position is at the present time that the children cannot study at night unless they have light. In the country all you can do with your gallon of paraffin oil is just to use it to give light while you make tea for the people coming back from work in the evenings, or when they are going out in the mornings. It is impossible for the children to study their home lessons in the present circumstances, and that is all tending to deteriorate education in this country further than it has deteriorated in the past. That is all I have to say, except that I must admit that whenever I went to the branch of the Department dealing with kerosene I found them very obliging and always willing to do what they could, but they could not meet me on those points that I have mentioned in regard to the farmers, and there is no provision for them in the Department.

Minister for Supplies (Mr. Lemass)

It is, undoubtedly, within the right of Deputies to point out here the difficulties and even the hardships that are caused by a scarcity of paraffin oil. A number of Deputies who have spoken already referred to the urgency of ensuring that a full supply of paraffin oil should be available for those who operate agricultural tractors or threshing engines. Others spoke about the need for paraffin oil for incubators and dairy farmers and other classes of farmers. Two Deputies spoke of the hardship imposed on certain households, particularly on the children there, because of the insufficient supply for household purposes. We could have these examples multiplied, and I am sure that if the debate went on we would get many references to the difficulties created for fishermen, for industrial users and owners of stationary engines, and many other classes of persons whose livelihood or convenience depends upon the supply of paraffin oil.

I say that it is within the right of Deputies to raise these matters here, but I do not think they should ignore the fact that these problems are due to the fact that there is not enough paraffin oil in the country and that there will not be enough to give everybody the supply they require. The problem that faces us is not that of ensuring that everybody gets enough. Our problem is to ensure how the limited supplies available, which are much less than enough for everybody, can best be utilised in our present circumstances. Last year we got in something less than one half the quantity of paraffin oil that we would normally import, and that in a year in which the need for paraffin oil, for agricultural purposes in particular, was greatly increased because of the extra tillage operations and, consequently, the extra harvesting operations, and the demand for paraffin oil for agricultural purposes, for tractors and threshing engines, was much above the normal, and much above the normal in a year in which the supply was less than half the normal.

Clearly, somebody had to go without. It is not possible to give paraffin oil for all the purposes that Deputies might refer to, because it just is not there. I and other members of the Government are fully aware of the hardships and the difficulties which its absence is bound to cause, but we cannot remove these hardships or end these difficulties. It is not in our power. If we could increase the supply of paraffin oil so as to give a reasonable quantity to satisfy all needs, we should be only too glad, but we cannot do it. We were not able to do it last year and we certainly will not be able to do it this year. We faced the problem of distributing, amongst the various classes of users, the limited supply of last year in the knowledge that we had to give the best part of the total quantity available to the essential users of it, the farmers and the industrial users, and that, consequently, the domestic users and other persons who required paraffin oil as a convenience or as a means to facilitate the operations in which they are engaged, had to be left very short, indeed. That is going to be our problem this year also. Whether, in fact, we will get even the same proportion of our needs in this year as we got last year, no one can say.

Mr. O'Donovan

We have no guarantee.

Mr. Lemass

Nor could there be any guarantee.

Mr. O'Donovan

No.

Mr. Lemass

A guarantee given by anybody would be of no value whatever. Circumstances alone will determine what the supply will be. Every Deputy who reads the papers must have noted the continued reports of the destruction of oil wells and oil refining machinery, and the sinkings of oil tankers. Almost every day in the newspapers these things are reported and they are a warning signal to us that the problems that have restricted our supply of petroleum products last year and the previous year are going to be accentuated this year. Up to the present we have no reason to anticipate that we will not got a sufficient supply in this year to maintain all the essential industries and keep them going, but as Deputy O'Donovan rightly said there can be no guarantee of it, and we can only hope that circumstances will not prove so adverse that our optimistic anticipations will not be realised.

Now, the principles upon which paraffin oil is allocated for domestic, agricultural and other purposes, are very simple, indeed. We decided, and the Dáil was aware of our decision, that food production should get priority over everything else. I am sure that the wisdom of that decision will not be contested here. The very great expansion in the production of food, which our circumstances required, necessitated the utilisation of all the available equipment to the utmost extent, and we tried to ensure as best we could that food production would not be hampered in any way by a limitation in fuel supplies. We, therefore, decided to give to the owners of agricultural tractors and agricultural threshing sets all the kerosene that they required to enable them to operate fully.

I must admit at once that in many cases there was a dispute between us and the persons concerned as to the amount they required. Those who made claims for a supply to the Department of Supplies did not underestimate their requirements. The tendency everywhere was to overestimate them, and it was necessary to have a number of checks upon their claims in order to ensure that they did not get more than they required, because Deputies will appreciate that every gallon in excess of actual need that went out to farmers for the operation of tractors or threshing sets meant a gallon less for somebody else. So drastically did we curtail other users that there were many months of last year in which domestic users of kerosene got no supplies at all, and only towards the end of the year did they get a ration of half a gallon per month, a ration which was increased during the depth of the winter to one gallon. It is a very small ration, and I know it must cause difficulty in a very large number of homes in this country where there is no other means of illumination. The problem of school children doing their home-work, the injury that may be done to their eyesight by inadequate lighting, the problem of certain classes of farmers who are not getting an additional ration and who have work to do during the hours of darkness, were all pressing on our minds when we decided that we had to have in existence such checks upon the use of kerosene by agriculturists and industrialists as to ensure that there would be no wastage, no tendency to exaggerate the claims, no abuses of the system in order to get supplies to which the individual was not entitled. Those checks were all designed to prevent hardship arising at the other end of the scale where the domestic user is to be found.

In addition to the agriculturists there are industrial users. Deputy O'Donovan referred to one class, namely, the grist mills throughout the country, which require a substantial quantity of paraffin oil to work the engines. There are other industrial users who require supplies of kerosene. Most of the fishing boats operating around our coasts are driven by the same fuel, and many industries depend on kerosene as raw material for their operation. I can refer also to painters, plumbers and workers of that kind who require supplies of kerosene. All those essential users of kerosene from the farmer downwards were listed, an effort was made to ascertain their requirements, a decision was made as to the relative importance of each class, and the available supplies of kerosene were distributed amongst them, keeping in reserve in each month as best we could some small proportion of the total supply to enable a ration of kerosene to be given to the domestic user for lighting purposes during the winter months. That issue of one gallon of kerosene per month to domestic users is being continued for the present, and I think it should be continued for the present. I know there is a risk that our supplies may be reduced in the summer and if they are reduced there is going to be a big problem for agriculturists. But I think that we should take the chance that supplies will come in, rather than immediately reduce the allocation to domestic users. As soon as the days grow longer that allocation to domestic users will be reduced and during the summer months it will again have to cease altogether, so that the requirements of the other essential users will be kept up and so that we can accumulate some little reserve to meet the greater need of next winter.

There are approximately 4,000 agricultural tractor owners, and the aim is to give to each of these tractor owners all the kerosene he bona fide requires. That involves the filling up of certain forms and the making of certain returns which are used to check the claim of each individual owner. I know it is a hardship on many farmers to take their pens in hand and fill in forms, but without that essential check upon the amount of work they have done in the past month, or propose to do in the next month, it is clear that abuses could creep in. There is naturally a temptation to every tractor owner to try to get more kerosene if he can. Either he will use it in his domestic establishment, or his neighbours will require it, and in certain cases it is possible to sell it at a substantial profit. In dealing with a wide variety of people, it was necessary to erect safeguards against all these possible abuses. It is for that reason that these forms are necessary, and I do not think that it is an undue hardship to impose on farmers, in the circumstances in which we find ourselves, that they should fill them in, realising as they must do the need for eliminating abuses in their own interest, because if abuses became widespread the supply available to them for their essential requirements might have to be curtailed.

We rationed paraffin oil as from the middle of April last year, and, between that date and the end of the year, out of a total distribution of 5,400,000 gallons, the tractor owners got 2,500,000. The total quantity used by them during the year was much larger, but that was the quantity they got from the end of April to the end of December. Therefore, Deputies will appreciate that practically one-half of the total supply goes to that essential purpose of the production of food by means of tractors. The allocation for stationary engines in connection with threshing sets was less, but nevertheless an additional appropriation had to be made available for that purpose, and the total allocation for industrial purposes of all kinds—and I include under that heading those stationary engines, fishing boats and the operations of Government Departments and local authorities, plumbers, painters, and the like—was approximately 1,000,000 gallons. The allocation of 2,500,000 gallons to tractors and 1,000,000 gallons to industrial users meant that only 2,000,000 gallons were available for all other users, and that was a substantial reduction in the quantity normally required by those other users or for domestic purposes during the corresponding period in other years.

There is, perhaps, some misunderstanding concerning the position of householders in the matter of registering for household supplies. It is not true that a householder who failed to register at the proper time is now debarred indefinitely from registering. A customer can register with a trader for kerosene supplies at any time; when the Departmental inspector is satisfied that there is a bona fide registration that trader will get supplies for that customer, whatever the supplies may be, whether a ration, as it is this month, or a half ration, as it may be in future months, or none at all in the summer months. We are dealing, of course, with 18,000 traders in kerosene. Kerosene is a commodity which is sold in a very large number of shops and the supervision of 18,000 traders in that commodity is a matter of some difficulty with a very limited staff. I have no doubt that here and there people are getting kerosene, as Deputy Corry suggested, who are not entitled to it. In due course they will probably be detected and brought before a district justice and charged with that offence. But it is almost a certainty that, having regard to the fact that there are 600,000 registered customers with 18,000 traders, the supervisory arrangements of the Departmental staffs have not yet succeeded in detecting all those who are getting kerosene without being properly entitled to it.

In addition to the one gallon given each registered domestic user supplies have also to be given to other users, and for the lighting of churches in districts where there is no other form of lighting. We also give it for various kinds of social halls where entertainments are available to members of the public residing in rural areas, for the lighting of nursing homes and hospitals where there is no other form of lighting, or where emergency lighting has to be maintained; for vocational and technical schools as well as dairy farms. Roughly, we are allocating about 13,000 gallons a month in the form of supplementary rations to specially designated domestic users. I think it is true to say, as the Deputy stated, that the administration of the rationing of kerosene is now working very smoothly. It is always possible to judge whether any section of my Department is working smoothly by the volume of correspondence I get. It may have been a hardship sometimes that the Deputy's constituents were making representations to him about kerosene, but it is no less a hardship to me than it is to him, and I am sure, like myself, he is glad that the volume of representations shows signs of slackening. Experience teaches in this matter. In the course of operating a form of rationing various improvements in the system were devised as members of the public became familiar with what was required, and were able to co-operate more fully with the Department in meeting necessary requirements before supplies could be made available.

I would like very much to be able to decentralise control of kerosene distribution but, unfortunately, it is not possible, having regard to the very limited staff I have available, and more particularly the precarious nature of these supplies. Deliveries are made periodically. There is no certainty any time that any further supplies are coming until they actually arrive. It is necessary to keep central control over the quantity used. It would not be possible to have officers distributed through the country at each kerosene distributing centre with any considerable element of discretion, and if they had not a considerable element of personal discretion left them then their utility would be greatly reduced. If we were to give them a great deal of discretion it would not be possible to control at any particular time the quantity of kerosene for which permits were issued. Apart from that difficulty, there is the staff problem, affecting the Department of Supplies in particular. It is, of course, possible to recruit temporary staff from members of the public, but that kind of staff takes a long time before it can be made an efficient part of the administrative machine. In dealing with matters of this kind they require a considerable amount of training, not merely in Civil Service administrative methods but also in the procedure which must necessarily be imposed on public officers. There is a problem of staff which is becoming more acute as a larger number of commodities have to be brought under control. On that account it is not possible to operate the elaborate system of local control which is conceivably feasible, and which might be operated if the number of commodities dealt with was very much less.

Mr. Hughes

Can the Minister say how many distributing stations would be required?

Mr. Lemass

I could not answer that question. While on the question of distributing stations, I want Deputies to appreciate another difficulty which is sometimes the cause of complaint. The petrol companies get supplies of kerosene and send them to distributing centres so that tank lorries can go around the districts with supplies of kerosene and petrol. They cannot simultaneously put kerosene into every distributor's tank. The process of delivery takes a period of days, sometimes a week, for distribution and consequently there are times when persons who got permits to purchase kerosene over some specific period may not be able to get it, because the supplies of the local trader have run out and the new supplies have not yet gone round. I do not think it is possible to prevent these difficulties arising. In my Department we have discussed with the petrol companies the question of reducing the possibility of delay occurring. Nevertheless there will be a period in particular parts of the country where the possession of a permit will not be sufficient to get a supply of kerosene.

Mr. O'Donovan

There is an improvement now.

Mr. Lemass

I think so. The companies were anxious to remove that reflection on the efficiency of their delivery services. Apart from that fact, there is no central store of petrol in the country which could be called upon at any time. Kerosene, like petroleum products, is distributed as it arrives. I agree with Deputy Hughes that in this matter we should endeavour to ensure as far as possible a full supply of kerosene for agricultural production purposes during this year, and I assure him that while we do not at present intend to curtail supplies to domestic users, if at any time it should appear likely that a new danger to our position arises, and that supplies during the summer months were likely to be further curtailed, an immediate reduction in the distribution allocation to other users will be enforced. The most important thing we have to do this year is to ensure that our food problems are finally solved by home production to meet our full needs, and to the maximum extent in our power we must facilitate agriculturists in that task, even to the extent of imposing hardships upon other sections of the community.

We had.

Mr. Hughes

Every Deputy who took part in this debate, including the Minister, agrees that since the motion was first put down an improvement has been effected in the distribution of kerosene. As the Minister pointed out the problem was one of acute shortage owing to the fact that we were getting only 50 per cent. of our requirements, and it was the responsibility of the Department to see that that 50 per cent. was used in the best interests of the country. As the Minister mentioned, nobody can dispute the fact that food production should get prior consideration. A number of people are, however, worried about the future. As the Minister informed the House, it is impossible to forecast what may happen as circumstances will have to determine what our supplies are likely to be. One of the reasons why I stress the necessity of getting a fairly substantial reserve of kerosene, even by curtailing the quantity distributed for domestic purposes, is because I live in the middle of an intensive tillage district, where mechanical farming is the order. If there is any breakdown in the supply, as far as cereal and agricultural production is concerned, we will not have horses to deal with such a situation. It would be impossible to provide sufficient horses in a situation where there are 4,000 tractors, coupled with the fact that on the farms they have turned to mechanical farming and to mechanical implements suitable for haulage by tractors. These implements are absolutely unsuitable for operation by horses. The Minister should bear that in mind and, if at any time he sees any danger of a falling off in supplies, I suggest that practically all domestic supplies should be "cut". It would be utterly impossible in intensive tillage districts in which there is a big production of wheat and cereals to get crops harvested without tractors. On many large farms in my constituency, and also in Wexford and Dublin where there is intensive tillage, the tractors are the big power units.

The Minister referred to the fact that a large number of permits cannot be dealt with immediately by the distributing companies as their problem is one of transport. I wish to point out to the Minister that that matter is dealt with on a monthly basis, and that the issue of permits from his Department takes place during the first week. That means that permits for kerosene have to be dealt with within a few days after they are issued. Undoubtedly a hardship does occur at a certain period when there is a heavy issue during the first few days of a month. That is the reason I suggested that the Minister should consider the possibility of introducing a basic allowance and then issuing supplementary allowances. A basic allowance would save the delay which I assure the Minister is occurring. There may be a good reason for delay at the beginning of a month if forms are returned uncompleted and if the officials are not satisfied that the information supplied is sufficient. In the meantime the farmers are without fuel and they have to wait until they satisfy the Department that their supply was used for legitimate purposes. Where I received complaints, my personal experience is that, when I assured the responsible officers that the applications were genuine, that I was satisfied the applicants were anxious to preserve the kerosene for tillage operations, and that there was no question of an illicit traffic, permits were issued immediately.

I think it is due to the official responsible to say that, but nevertheless that sort of delay does occur. Again, the fact that there is a big issue of permits at the commencement of the month accentuates the difficulty referred to by the Minister, that the distributing companies are unable to execute the big number of orders that come in to them at the beginning of each month. The Minister must appreciate the fact that the big consideration in this vital year, when we are relying absolutely on the farmers' efforts to produce the nation's requirements in food, is that we cannot risk the possibility of any tractor standing idle on a fine day. Take this present week. The loss of one day in a week like this would be greater than perhaps the loss of a fortnight during a wet period at another part of the year, when no cultivation could be carried on. During the present dry weather, which is suitable for cultivation, the possibility of any tractor standing idle should be eliminated as far as is possible. I would ask the Minister to consider that aspect of the matter, that the big issue of permits from his Department occurs in the first week of the month, and that because of that fact it is impossible for the distributing companies to execute all the orders immediately. For that reason delay is sometimes inevitable. Delays in the issue of permits will sometimes occur for one reason or another, but I think many of these delays could be avoided if there were a normal basic issue for each tractor at the commencement of the month. In other words, it could be arranged that the farmer would receive, say, 50 gallons or whatever quantity the Department might determine as the basic issue, on the first day of the month. That would give him breathing space to prepare his application for his full requirements for the month and then a supplementary allowance could be issued to him. That would ease the position from the distributing companies' point of view also. On the first of the month they could release the basic issue and then a week or ten days later they could issue the supplementary allowance for the remainder of the month. I would ask the Minister to give that suggestion his consideration. I beg leave to withdraw the motion.

Motion, by leave, withdrawn.

Dáil Éireann debate - Wednesday, 18 Feb 1942

Private Deputies' Business. - Distribution of Paraffin—Motion.

Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 18 Feb 1942