asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he is aware that members of the Oireachtas have been advised that the total ration of butter to the Dáil Restaurant is less than 3 lbs. a week; and if he will state upon what basis the ration for the Dáil Restaurant has been arranged.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dáil Restaurant Butter Ration.
In common with butter allowances to hotels and other catering establishments, the butter allowance for the Dáil Restaurant, which is allocated quarterly, is based on the number of bread and butter meals served and varies with the domestic butter ration. The allowance was reduced proportionately when the domestic ration was reduced on March 1st. The allowance fixed on this basis provides the Dáil Restaurant at present with an average of approximately 3½ lbs. per week.
Will the Minister say why it is that visitors, who is most cases come to see Deputies on matters of business, cannot in the Dáil Restaurant receive the same treatment as they would get in an ordinary restaurant, and will the Minister say why Deputies in the Dáil Restaurant cannot in the matter of butter receive as adequate a supply as they would get in an ordinary restaurant?
The Dáil Restaurant is treated the same as any other restaurant and I do not think it should be treated differently.
Is the Minister aware that the experience of Deputies and of visitors in the Dáil Restaurant is that they are treated much more ungenerously, let me say, than they would be if they went into an ordinary restaurant, that they get a bigger supply of butter at a meal in an ordinary restaurant than they get here?
And that it is much more costly?
The allowance is fixed on precisely the same basis as for all other catering establishments.
Can the Minister give us any figures upon which he bases the allowance for the Dáil Restaurant?
The allowance works out at about 3½ lbs. of butter per week.
Will the Minister try dining in the outside restaurant and see how it works?