asked the Minister for Supplies if he will state (a) the number of applications he has received from persons in County Dublin for supplies of sugar for jam-making and preserving fruit; (b) the number of applications approved of, and (c) the number still awaiting a decision; and, further, if he will state the cause of the delay in dealing with these applications.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Sugar for Jam-making.
Up to and including the 12th October the number of properly completed forms of application for permits to purchase sugar for home jam-making and fruit preservation received from persons in County Dublin, including the county borough, since the commencement of the "hard fruit" season was 14,549. 13,519 of these applications had been approved and the permits issued, and 984 were still awaiting decision.
There is now no undue delay in arriving at decisions on these applications. The delay in dealing with applications which occurred at the beginning of the "hard fruit" season was due to the fact that applications were received in my Department at a rate greatly in excess of that anticipated.