asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he will state (a) the dates on which the cutting of turf ceased on Bohatch Bog, Mountshannon, County Clare, for the years 1941-42, 1942-43, 1943-44; (b) the number of cubic yards of peat cut each year and the tonnage of turf produced therefrom; (c) whether some of the peat cut in this bog in 1941 was never removed after being harrowed out, until it was collected up and re-barrowed into bog holes; (d) whether more of it was only "footed" in the late autumn of 1941, gathered into heaps in the spring of 1942, and offered for sale in the winter of 1942-43 at 1/- per horse creel, but that it was so bad that it could not be disposed of even at this price; (e) and whether he will cause an investigation to be made into the working of the county council turf scheme in the Bohatch Bog.
Written Answers. - Turf-Cutting in County Clare.
The information so far as available is as follows:— (a) Turf cutting ceased in Bohatch Bog on the 9th August, 1941, the 22nd August, 1942, and the 7th August, 1943; (b) in 1941, 15,924 cubic yards, in 1942, 7,806 cubic yards, and in 1943, 3,700 cubic yards were cut. Records are not kept of the weight of the turf disposed of from separate bogs. (c) I would refer the Deputy to the reply given to a previous question in which it was intimated that the Department was informed that such an allegation was baseless. (d) In many places where scraw or very light turf was cut it was found unsuitable for transport and had to be excluded from the main crop. These cuttings must be undertaken in the process of development, but I have no information to what extent this applied in the present instance. I am informed that such cuttings were offered at varying prices up to 4/- per ton, and about 20 tons were disposed of. (e) The circumstances do not call for any special investigation.