I move:—
That a sum not exceeding £1,948,536 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending the 31st day of March, 1944, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Supplies, including payment of certain Subsidies and sundry Grants-in-Aid.
I propose to give the Dáil a general review of the supply position as well as to deal with the various administrative problems which concerned the Department of Supplies during the past year. The review which I shall give must necessarily be of a general character. As the House is aware, the Department of Supplies has some function in relation to every commodity used in commerce. It has either the responsibility of organising or facilitating the importation of that commodity, of regulating its distribution, or of controlling its price. It would be impracticable to deal, even briefly, with all of the many activities of the Department. It is for that reason that I propose to confine my introductory remarks to the general aspects of the supply position, or to commodities which are of exceptional importance. I can assure the Dáil that I shall be only too willing to deal in detail with any matter which may be raised by Deputies. It is my desire to give to the House and to the country the fullest possible information concerning the position in respect of our essential supplies. If, therefore, I do not, in these introductory remarks, deal with any matter with which an individual Deputy may be concerned, it will be my intention to deal with that particular matter later when it has been raised by that Deputy. On that basis I can, I think, request Deputies to deal, in this discussion, with the work of the Department of Supplies in a constructive way and, because the fullest possible information will be available to them either now or later, to have full regard in their remarks to the realities of our situation.
Generally speaking, the supply position was maintained better than we were entitled to hope at this time last year. That not unsatisfactory result was due, partly, to the good management of and our comparative good fortune in the operation of our shipping facilities, partly to the success of the efforts of the Government to expand the home production of foodstuffs and essential industrial materials and, partly, to the increased efficiency resulting from the wider experience, and an improved and enlarged organisation, of the Department of Supplies.
In the matter of foodstuffs, our position worsened in respect of sugar but improved substantially in respect of flour. The position in respect of clothing has deteriorated, but arrangements for the control of the utilisation and distribution of available supplies were improved. There has been a steady and alarming worsening of our supply of petroleum products which constituted the gravest of all our problems. The position in respect of industrial materials has remained reasonably good, and, in some respects, has greatly improved. The outlook for the coming year, while uncertain, is not bad, except in certain limited respects. Probably the wheat situation will remain secure, the sugar position will improve, the butter position will be eased by the more effective control of production and distribution, the transport situation will grow in acuteness to the dimensions of a crisis, the clothing situation will disimprove, generally, but may be better in some respects. Turf supplies for the non-turf area will, on the basis of the present ration, be reasonably secure, and industrial materials will improve in certain important respects.
Our comparatively favourable situation now, as compared with our anticipations of 12 months ago, is not due solely to the efforts which have been made to expand home production. During the course of the year we were able to import considerable quantities of necessary supplies from abroad. Our difficulties in maintaining imports of all commodities, or of procuring the quantities necessary to avoid a scarcity here, were, however, due to causes other than the scarcity of shipping. While the shortage of ocean-going shipping has continued to limit our ability to obtain essential supplies from abroad, a new difficulty emerged during the course of the past 12 months by reason of the imposition of restrictions by the exporting countries upon the release of these materials, particularly in the case of the United States of America. Our importers experienced steadily increasing difficulties in securing the necessary permits to obtain the release of goods we needed from these countries.
The shipping situation was, of course, the basis of all the problems of maintaining imports. During the year which ended on the 1st April, only a very small number of foreign ships arrived in our ports. During that period we received seven cargoes of petroleum products, brought upon British tankers, but, apart from these, no other foreign ocean-going shipping was available except two small ships of Panamanian nationality which were chartered for voyages to Lisbon. One of these ships was lost on a voyage in September last. We had, therefore, to rely almost exclusively upon the ships of Irish Shipping, Limited, and on smaller ships owned by three Irish shipping companies of which there were eleven at the outbreak of the war and of which there are now only six left. It is, I think, appropriate at this stage to refer to the loss with all hands during the year of the "Irish Pine." It was an incident which brought home to the people of this country the risks to which our shipping services are subjected. The loss of the crew of that vessel brought forth a spontaneous demonstration from the whole people of sympathy with the relatives of the members of the crew. It will help the Dáil to realise how narrow is our margin of safety when I mention that the loss of that one vessel reduced the carrying capacity of all ships under our control by 10 per cent.
Since the incorporation of Irish Shipping, Limited, its ships have brought 514,000 tons of imports of priceless value to this country during the past year. Smaller ships on the Lisbon route carried 55,000 tons of cargo comprising wheat, pyrites for the manufacture of superphosphate, coffee and cocoa beans, vegetable oils and fats, newsprint, citrous fruits, medical and surgical supplies, machinery and other essential goods. It is hoped during the present year to ship sufficient wheat to leave a small surplus with which to face the coming cereal year, to ship also a quantity of sugar from the West Indies, despite the long and hazardous voyage that is involved, to ship a substantial tonnage of phosphate rock which, although small in relation to our normal needs, will be of special importance, to bring here considerable quantities of tobacco and newsprint and smaller quantities of many important industrial materials. All the transport available to us on the Atlantic route is, of course, confined to essential products, and there is no space to spare on our ships for the carriage of non-essential goods. Very many applications for space upon these ships, received from importers of various commodities during the year, have had to be refused, arising out of the decision to confine these ships to the transport of goods which we regard as essential to the life of the community.
Dealing with the various classes of commodities which are of special importance, I wish to take firstly foodstuffs. The most important foodstuff is, of course, wheat. At this time last year, as Deputies will remember, our stocks of wheat were very low. When the Dáil was discussing the Estimate for the Department of Supplies a large part of the time was devoted to debating the flour and bread situation then existing. The deliveries of flour had been curtailed and the formal rationing of bread appeared at that time to be unavoidable. As a result of the arrangements made, however, normal conditions were restored much earlier than we had hoped. In fact, by June, 1942, deliveries of flour from the mills were proceeding on a normal basis. Up to date, from the harvest of 1942 263,000 tons of green wheat have been delivered to the flour mills. I think the maximum quantity we can now expect to receive from last year's harvest is 270,000 tons. Last year the quantity of wheat delivered to the flour millers was 220,000 tons.
Deputies will notice a certain peculiarity about these figures. The quantity of wheat grown in the country last year certainly exceeded 500,000 tons. Making all due allowance for the retention of wheat for seed purposes and for the feeding of members of farmers' families, there still appears to be an inexplicable deficiency in the quantity of wheat made available for flour milling. A similar situation arose last year. It may be that there is some factor in the situation which has not been taken fully into account; but, upon the basis of our experience this year, it is obvious that an increase in the acreage under wheat of nearly 100,000 acres would be necessary to give us from home sources alone the full quantity of wheat which would enable us to meet all the flour and bread requirements of the country without imports. The total requirements of wheat for the financial year which ended on the 31st March were 342,000 tons and during that period 147,000 tons were imported. The farmer's price for the wheat is 50/- per barrel, as Deputies are aware. That price represents a cost of 57/2 for dried millable wheat delivered to the flour mills. The present price of imported wheat delivered at Irish ports, with cost, insurance, and freight paid, is about 50/7 per barrel.
In the case of sugar, it became evident in the late spring of last year that, in the light of the decreased acreage sown with sugar beet, the ration of three-quarters of a pound of sugar per head per week which was then current could not be maintained and, therefore, the ration was reduced in August to half a pound per head per week. The stocks of sugar at present in hands will enable that ration to be maintained until the commencement of the next sugar production season. For the purpose of preserving the maximum employment possible, deliveries of sugar to manufacturers needing sugar in their processes of manufacture are maintained at 80 per cent. of the normal; while, in the case of the jam manufacturers, because of the difficulties created by the scarcity of butter, the higher price prevailing for butter, and the disappearance of margarine, normal deliveries are maintained. This year, as the House, I think, is aware, a substantially increased acreage of beet has been contracted for, and, assuming a normal harvest and the safe arrival of the sugar which has been purchased in the West Indies, it will be possible to consider increasing the sugar ration before the end of the year.
During the past year allocations of tea from the United Kingdom have been received regularly on the basis of 25 per cent. of deliveries to this country during the datum period, the 12 months which ended in June, 1939. The House will remember from previous discussions that Tea Importers, Limited, a company which the Government set up for the purpose of purchasing tea, arranged during 1941 to buy in India some 12,000,000 lbs. of tea. Only a proportion of that tea, however, had reached this country when the extension of the war in the Far East made further shipments impossible. I decided then that a conservative policy in respect of tea was necessary in view of the general uncertainty as to the situation in the Far East. But it was decided to release some of the tea which had been imported by Tea Importers, Limited, for the purpose of increasing the ration to 1 oz. per week during the winter months and to keep it at ¾ of an oz. per week since the beginning of the present month. If a conservative policy is followed and assuming a continuance of the present allocation from the United Kingdom, it should be possible to maintain the present ration for a reasonable time or, alternatively, again to increase the ration to 1 oz. per head during the winter months, for which course there is much to be said because it is during that period that supplies of milk are at their lowest.
In the case of butter the situation during the year was not satisfactory. The quantities which were produced by the creameries in 1942 and 1941 were 615,000 cwts. and 663,000 cwts. respectively. The average monthly consumption in 1941 was 41,000 cwts., and in 1942, 51,000 cwts. To put it otherwise, in 1942 the production of butter within the country decreased by 48,000 cwts., but the consumption increased by 126,000 cwts. A serious shortage occurred in Dublin around September last and rationing was introduced in that area. At the same time, Orders were made by the Minister for Agriculture restricting deliveries from the creameries to other parts of the country so as to spread the available reserves of stocks over the whole winter period. I have received many proposals for the introduction of formal butter rationing into other parts of the country outside Dublin. It is only in Dublin that formal rationing operates at the moment. The difficulty of rationing butter in rural areas and in country towns arises, as most Deputies will see, from the impracticability of bringing supplies of farmers' butter under control. It is intended, however, to avail of the period in this year when production will exceed current requirements to bring into operation a formal control of the consumption of creamery butter in the whole area of the State and to take such measures as are necessary to ensure the conservation of an adequate supply in cold storage for next winter.
In connection with the scarcity of butter, frequent references are made to the position in respect of the supply of cooking fats and oils. Although in normal times in this country we had an exportable surplus of animal fats, because of the disappearance of margarine and also by reason of the requirements of industry, the demand for animal fats now exceeds the supply. The shortage of fats here is not as keenly felt as in other European countries, and our problem is mainly one of making cheap fats available for the poorer sections of the population. To control the situation, all the fat melters, other than butchers producing lard and dripping for retail sale, have been licensed, and it has been made illegal to use edible fat for purposes other than human consumption. Substantial quantities of fats normally classified as inedible have been refined at Drogheda to produce a high-class edible fat which is being put on sale in areas where there is found to be a grave shortage of cooking fats. During the Christmas period 20 tons of Drogheda fat were placed on sale in the poorer areas of Dublin and further quantities have recently been released for distribution in the same area. It was at first proposed to confine this fat to persons who were prepared to take it in lieu of their butter ration or some proportion of their butter ration, but there was little demand for it on that basis, although it was available at 9d. and 11d. per lb. It is now being released at the rate of 12 tons per week and shopkeepers have been asked to confine it to their poorer customers.
Complaints have been published in the Press from time to time that fats are going to waste in public abattoirs and private slaughterhouses. I have had these complaints investigated. The investigation has established that there is no serious waste except perhaps in some small slaughterhouses which are located so far away from any melting plant that it is uneconomic to collect their rougher fats for melting.
I have mentioned already that the gravest of the problems which we will face this year arise under the head of transport. I have frequently in the past expressed the view that members of the Dáil, and some members of the public, have failed to appreciate fully the gravity of our situation in respect of transport services. In the case of petrol, against a normal requirement of petrol of about 44,000,000 gallons per year, we received 17,000,800 gallons in 1941, 13,750,000 gallons in 1942, and in the present year we have been notified to expect a further and considerable reduction in the quantity available to us. These figures will, I think, help to bring home to the House the need for confining allocations of petrol to essential purposes and also the impossibility of meeting the many demands for petrol for various purposes which are expressed by Deputies from time to time. Furthermore, there is a possibility, nearly strong enough to be a probability, that for periods either long or short during the present year there will be a complete cessation of petrol deliveries. Already in this year there was a period in which we were faced with the prospect of complete exhaustion of stocks. Orders restricting the public transport services and enforcing other drastic reductions in petrol consumption were prepared and were about to be brought into operation when the fortuitous arrival of some limited supplies postponed the need for them and, by various measures, arrangements were made to avoid that possibility pending the arrival of a new cargo. That situation which had so nearly arisen already this year will, in all probability, arise before the year is over.
It may be no harm to mention in this connection the plans which the Department is making in order to provide against a situation in which there will be no petrol available to the country. The only alternative means, apart from horse transport, of keeping vehicles moving, is by equipping them with gas-producer plants. It is, of course, necessary to bear in mind that our ability to put gas-producer plants upon vehicles is itself limited. The materials which are available for the manufacture of these plants, the output capacity of the manufacturing firms and the supplies of solid fuel necessary for their operation are all strictly limited. It has been decided, however, to encourage the more rapid fitting of commercial vehicles with gas-producer equipment by various means. In the case of the large scale transport operators they will in effect be required to do so. I mean that the continuation of petrol allocations to these firms will be made conditional upon their equipping a proportion of their total fleets with gas-producer plants. Persons who voluntarily convert their commercial vehicles to the use of producer gas will continue to receive petrol allocations so long as they are in a class of persons to whom petrol would in any event be allowed. That concession, primarily designed to encourage the equipment of commercial vehicles with these plants, will also be extended to the owners of hackney vehicles. Arrangements are being made to effect the standardisation of these plants and to ensure that only approved types will be produced.
Up to the present it has been considered unnecessary to make available allowances of petrol to owners of gas-producer vehicles, unless they were entitled to petrol in any event, for starting purposes. The manufacturers of the plant have frequently urged the desirability of making available small allocations of petrol for these plants for priming purposes. It is possible to start these plants operating without petrol, but it will facilitate owners of vehicles fitted with these plants and encourage other owners to instal them if we make available a small monthly allowance of petrol for priming purposes, and it has been decided now to do that. Permits are required to fit gas-producer plants in any vehicles and they will be given only in respect of commercial vehicles which are in a good state of repair and which exceed one ton unladen weight. Arrangements which I need not detail now are being made to expand the production of solid fuel for gas-producer equipment, mainly by an increased output of turf charcoal.
I have dealt, however, with only one petroleum product, namely, petrol. In the case of paraffin oil, our normal consumption was about 17,500,000 gallons per year, and supplies during 1942 were 10,000,000 gallons. This year, we do not expect to receive more than 8,000,000 gallons. Of these 8,000,000 gallons, more than 4,000,000 will be required for agricultural tractors; 1,000,000 gallons will be required for other food-producing equipment, such as incubators, grain mills, fishing boats and the like; and roughly another 1,000,000 gallons will be needed by other industrial users. It will be seen, therefore, that only a very meagre quantity will be left for domestic purposes. So far as it is possible to ascertain the figure, about 8,500,000 gallons of paraffin were used normally every year for domestic purposes, and of the balance of the total supply which will be available this year and which can be released for domestic purposes, already 1,000,000 gallons have been used in the earlier months of the year.
It is clear, therefore, that having regard to the fact that the requirements of agriculture will be greater this year than ever, every possible economy must be resorted to in order to ensure that there will be some supplies of paraffin oil, however limited, for rural homes during the coming winter months. The hardship which the absence of any form of lighting involves in these homes will readily be appreciated by Deputies, and I trust, therefore, that they will use every influence in their own constituencies to discourage claims for paraffin oil by farmers, fishing boat owners or other users, in excess of their minimum essential needs. It is, of course, very difficult to determine to a gallon the exact allocation which should be given to a particular tractor owner or other commercial user of paraffin oil and there has been a tendency to exaggerate claims for supplies. That tendency must be discouraged by the exercise of public opinion on the people concerned. It is only thus that we can scrape together a limited quantity of paraffin oil to make provision for domestic lighting in the darkest months of next winter.
In that connection, I might refer at this stage to the position concerning supplies of candles. Our normal consumption of candles was about 3,500 tons per year. To manufacture 3,500 tons of candles, an equivalent quantity of paraffin wax was required, and in the past we imported that paraffin wax from the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Burma. Exports from the United Kingdom are prohibited and, as Deputies are aware, Burma is occupied by the Japanese, and we cannot get supplies from that area. The United States authorities have agreed to make us an allocation of 1,000 tons per annum. The quantity of candles available, therefore, will be only 30 per cent. of our normal requirements. Not all these candles can, however, be released for domestic use. Certain essential industries, such as coal-mining and ship-building, must get their full needs. All supplies of paraffin wax have been reserved for candle manufacture, except for some insignificant quantities which are made available to a few essential industries.
The other petroleum product to which I wish to refer is fuel oil. In the case of fuel oil, supplies have been reduced by more than half. Of the available supplies, 33 per cent. must be used for transport purposes and 25 per cent. is required for food production in grain mills, bakeries, creameries, fishing boats and the like. The balance is needed by other industrial concerns, some of which are of vital importance to the country. It is quite clear that the economies which have already been enforced in the usage of fuel oil are insufficient to bring that usage within the anticipated supplies, and, consequently, further and considerable reductions in the allocation of fuel oil to these users will have to be enforced in the near future.
I wish now to give a brief outline of the position in respect of clothing. It will, of necessity, have to be a brief outline. In view of the large number of separate materials and commodities which are included under the heading of clothing, and in view also of the variety of orders and directions which have been given for the purpose of coping with the problems of scarcity and to make the best use of the available supplies, it is impossible to do more than give a very general review of the position. In the case of cotton, we receive periodic allocations of cotton yarns and fabrics from the United Kingdom. These allocations represent 10 per cent. of our normal needs. They are at present being supplemented by some small quantities imported from the United States of America. Similarly in the case of woollens and woollen yarns, periodic allocations are received from the United Kingdom, but they are so small in relation to our normal imports that we are for all practical purposes entirely dependent on our own wool resources.
To ensure an equitable distribution of available supplies and to prevent excessive competition between traders in this country forcing up prices to our detriment, a buying permit system has been arranged in agreement with the United Kingdom authorities, under which all applications to purchase supplies of cotton and woollen yarns and piece goods must be accompanied by a buying permit issued by the Department of Supplies. That system has greatly facilitated the proper distribution of supplies and ensures also that the fullest advantage is taken of the available quotas. In the case of linen yarns and silk yarns, all imports have ceased. In the case of art silk, in June of last year—the date will be of some significance to Deputies in view of the agitation proceeding at that time against clothes rationing— the authorities in the United Kingdom decided to discontinue all new production of art silk goods for this country, and since then have allotted no further export to us, except for some run-off of orders which had been placed prior to June, 1942. Since March 1st of the present year all types of art silk yarns have been subjected to export control by the United Kingdom authorities.
The only textile which we can produce from native materials is woollens. There is no machinery in the country for the spinning of flax yarn. In the case of woollens, the difficulty is that the spinning capacity of the Irish mills is not sufficient to produce all the yarns which could be utilised on their weaving machines. Arrangements have been made which will result in this year in an increased output of worsted yarns, which will ease the supply position to some extent. To sum up the whole textile situation, we can estimate that, during 1943, the supply of textiles of all kinds will equal about 22 per cent. of our normal needs. That substantial contraction in the total supply available to the country has, of course, necessitated a very rigid control over the use to be made of the quantities available.
Under the Emergency Powers (Manufacture of Textiles and Textile Articles) Order, directions are given to manufacturers for the purpose of ensuring the production only of essential cloths and garments and the making of the best use of available supplies. Clothes rationing, as Deputies are aware, is in operation, but it has been operating on a more liberal basis than the supply position justifies, and the result has been the encouragement of undesirable activities by speculators which will now have to be curtailed by direct action against them. Regulations have been made requiring shirt manufacturers to institute economies in the making up of shirts and to maintain a balance between the production of men's and boys' shirts; the reservation of proofed gaberdine and similar cloths, for the making up of raincoats; economies in the making of men's and boys' suits; limiting the types of art-silk garments which may be made, and instituting economies in the making up of women's outer garments; controlling the production of hosiery garments—and for many purposes, designed to prevent waste and to ensure the production, so far as is practicable and consistent with the provision of employment, of utility clothes only.
In the case of fuel, no material change in regard to coal supplies occurred during the past year. Practically all the coal received was of low quality, and indistinguishable from low-grade steam coal, and consisted mostly of slack. Imports of coal in 1942 averaged 23,000 tons per week, as compared with 50,000 tons per week in a normal pre-war year. It is not possible to include any coal in the domestic fuel ration. It has been possible to maintain sufficient supplies of coal to industrial users in the non-turf areas. In the turf areas permits to purchase coal in such quantities as, used in conjunction with turf, would be sufficient to meet industrial requirements, have been issued. The allocation of gas-coal to this country by the United Kingdom authorities has been reduced to one-sixth of normal needs. Six of the smaller gas undertakings have closed down here since the war began, and in all areas there has been a curtailment of the hours of supply and a reduction in the calorific values of the gas supply. There is no immediate prospect of any improvement in the gas position.
Due to the abnormally dry weather and, consequently, the high coal consumption required for electricity production, it has been necessary to reintroduce the rationing of electricity since the 1st of April. The drive initiated by the Government for increased turf production was conducted successfully during the past year. The limiting factor affecting turf supplies for the non-turf areas is transport. It is not possible to transport more than 450,000 tons of turf in one season and, therefore, turf for domestic use has had to be rationed in the non-turf areas. This rationing was also designed to secure the building up of a stock of turf in those areas to meet a situation in which transport might have to be further curtailed. The reserve of turf is now about 300,000 tons, as compared with 185,000 tons at the corresponding date last year, and on the basis of average weekly sales, during the past winter, it is sufficient to meet immediate needs for 12 months ahead. It has continued to be sold at 64/- a ton, although the average cost of production, transportation, and storage has exceeded that figure very considerably. The total subsidy required to maintain the present price is, roughly, 23/6 per ton.
With regard to the Supplementary Estimate which was introduced here to-day, the position is, as Deputies are aware, that the machinery of Fuel Importers, Ltd., is being utilised for bringing turf into the non-turf areas and also for the distribution of the turf within those areas, and that organisation is also responsible for the equalisation of the price of turf throughout the non-turf area. The turf which is dealt with by Fuel Importers, Ltd., may be divided into two classes. One class is turf produced by the efforts of the county surveyors, and the other is turf that is produced by private individuals. Fuel Importers, Ltd., enter into firm contracts with private producers and the price, of course, is definitely known. In the case of turf produced through the efforts of the county surveyors, which, in fact, represents over 80 per cent. of all the turf purchased by Fuel Importers, Ltd., provisional prices have been intimated by the Department of Local Government and Public Health. Further provisional arrangements will have to be made and a final settlement will not be possible before the winding up of the production programme at the end of the present emergency. It is already obvious, however, that the cost of saving the turf, delivering it, and keeping considerable quantities of it stored in dumps, to be used when required, will be very heavy. The Government have fixed 64/- a ton as the present maximum price and the price at which Fuel Importers, Ltd., can sell the turf is this retail price less a reasonable margin for merchants. The difference between the all-in cost of the turf to Fuel Importers, Ltd., and the price at which it is sold by them is the loss which will be recouped to the company under sub-head G.