asked the Minister for Supplies if he will grant greater facilities to bellmen, and if he will give them increased supplies of any available fuel so that they can give adequate supplies to intended customers.
Ceisteanna.—Questions. Oral Answers. - Fuel for Bellmen.
Mr. Byrne
I am not aware of the nature of the additional facilities to which the Deputy refers. I am always prepared to consider any representations which are made by bellmen. Merchants are authorised to supply bellmen with turf to the full extent required to provide the domestic ration for all their registered customers. I am informed that the Dublin bellmen as a whole have not taken up the full amount of turf to which they would be entitled on this basis. The question of increasing their supplies, therefore, does not appear to arise at present.
Mr. Byrne
Is the Minister aware that the bellmen do not get the turf anywhere near where their customers reside, and that the distance they have to travel, to such places, for instance, as Whitehall, Drumcondra, and Crumlin, is so far that it is scarcely worth their while? Will the Minister endeavour to make turf available for the bellmen so that they may be able to get two and, if necessary, three loads a day?
That appears to be a different question. So far as I am aware, there is no restriction on the number of loads they may take. The bellmen usually draw their supplies from the merchants with whom they are associated.
Mr. Byrne
They have to travel from the end of the Wall to such places as Crumlin and Whitehall.
Not necessarily.
Mr. Byrne
Why not establish a turf dump in Crumlin and also in Larkhill, where there is plenty of space?
They get the turf from the merchants' yards, where they always got it.
Mr. Byrne
The distance from the point of the North Wall or the South Wall to Crumlin is at least five miles.
They get the turf in the merchants' yards; they never got it anywhere else.
Mr. Byrne
I suggest the Minister should establish turf dumps for the bellmen at Whitehall and Crumlin.