asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state at what date and under what statutory authority Cobh was included in the turf area for purposes of fuel supplies, and if he will state the reasons for this inclusion.
Written Answers. - Cobh Fuel Supplies.
Cobh is included in the scheduled turf area from the 1st December, 1941, by the provisions of Emergency Powers (Restrictions on Movement of Turf) (No. 2) Order, 1941 (Third Amendment) Order, 1941. The reasons which governed its inclusion were the same as those which determined the inclusion of any other district in the scheduled turf area, namely, that it was in an area in which private enterprise might reasonably be expected to provide for its fuel requirements without the assistance of the production and distribution machinery set up for the non-turf areas.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state whether inquiry has been made into the manner in which fuel supplies are reaching Cobh and the quantities arriving there, and the prices which have to be paid; and if he will state whether he has received representations that serious difficulties exist there and threaten a serious situation in the coming winter; and if he will cause inquiries to be now made into the matter and take steps to have Cobh made a non-turf area.
I would refer the Deputy to the reply given to the similar question by Deputy Martin J. Corry to-day.
So far as price is concerned, the retail prices of turf in Cobh have had to be adjusted, as in many other similar centres, to allow for the general advance in production and transport costs.
The difficulties to which the Deputy refers are common to many centres in the scheduled turf area, and I am not prepared to accord exceptional treatment to Cobh by including it in the non-turf area.