I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. The objects of the Bill are: (i) To provide for the increased cost of carrying out the programme of development which Bord na Móna was authorised to undertake by the Turf Development Act, 1946; (ii) to authorise Bord na Móna to proceed with a second development programme to increase the annual production to 2,000,000 tons; (iii) to make provision for housing accommodation for the board's workers; (iv) to provide for an increase from £120,000 to £250,000 in the grants for the board's experimental station.
The estimated cost of the programme authorised by the Turf Development Act, 1946, was £3,750,000. When compiling the Estimate it was assumed that costs of material would be 50 per cent. higher than pre-war and for wages costs the levels of 1943-44 were assumed. The increase in material costs has been much higher than that assumed in the Estimate, while wages have increased considerably over the 1943-44 levels. In addition, experience has shown that the plans drawn up in 1946 required revision in certain minor respects. A revised Estimate has now been made which shows that the cost of the first programme will amount to £5,520,000, an increase over the original Estimate of £1,770,000. The first programme of development for which a total of £5,520,000 is required provides for an annual output of approximately 1,000,000 tons of machine turf, 20,000 tons of briquettes and 50,000 bales of peat moss.
The House will appreciate that the development of a bog to the point of full mechanised production is necessarily a lengthy process. Moreover, up to recently, the industrial after-effects of the last war rendered it difficult for the board to obtain delivery of the specialised machines for which it was the only customer. These machines had to be specially designed and developed by the board and during the post-war period a certain difficulty was experienced in securing suitable firms to undertake their manufacture. It will also be understood that progress in the early stages of a pioneer project such as this is necessarily slow; once a certain stage is reached, however, the rate of progress tends to accelerate progressively. That critical stage has now been reached in the first development programme and output is expected to expand rapidly on the bogs covered by that programme.
For the reasons which I have given it may not be possible to complete the first programme in the case of every bog within the period of five years which was contemplated, but the preparation in the case of all the bogs is generally well advanced and some of the bogs are actually in production. Production is in progress at Clonsast, Derryounce, Glenties, Barna, Timahoe South, Turraun, Lyrecrumpane, Blackriver, Ballydermot and Glashabaun. Briquettes are being produced at Lullymore and peat moss at Kilberry. Other bogs would be in production by now were it not for difficulties in regard to the delivery of turf-cutting machinery. The drainage of the remainder of the bogs included in the board's programme is proceeding.
Deputies will be aware that at Portarlington the turf-fired electricity generating station is in production. The station which went into partial production in January, 1950, is designed for two generating sets of 12,500 k.w. each, and is expected to be working to full capacity before the end of the year. This station will have a consumption of 120,000 tons of turf per annum which is the total estimated annual output from the Clonsast bogs and will be capable of producing 90,000,000 units of electricity per annum. I may inform the House that the performance of the station since it went into commission has been highly satisfactory. The turf from the Timahoe bogs (County Kildare) will supply the generating station under construction at Allenwood. The Timahoe North bog will provide 60,000 tons per annum and it is hoped to have the first generating set in commission by the winter of 1951. The Timahoe South bog will provide 120,000 tons per annum and when the second generating set is installed, probably by the summer of 1952, the total generating capacity will be approximately 130,000,000 units per annum. The bulk of the estimated annual output of 180,000 tons at Boora, which is the largest bog in the board's first programme, is intended for consumption in a further electricity generating station which it is hoped will be put into commission in 1954. It is expected that production of turf on Boora bog will commence in 1951 and any turf produced will be stockpiled if it is not disposed of commercially.
In regard to Lullymore, where the present target is 20,000 tons of briquettes per annum, the limiting factor in output has been the availability of milled peat. Additional bog machines, ordered some time ago, have now been delivered and will ensure that, even in unfavourable weather, a sufficient quantity of milled peat can be harvested, for the production of 20,000 tons of briquettes per annum; it is hoped that this will be increased within a reasonable time to 30,000 tons. The output of milled peat in 1949 constituted a record for the works. I may mention that a bridge has been erected over the Grand Canal in order to provide direct access to the factory from the public road.
The production of peat most at the Kilberry factory commenced during 1947. The output of the factory has increased from 24,130 bales in the year ended 31st March, 1940, to 85,616 in the year ended 31st March, 1950. In the year 1949, peat moss was an important export to the United States, when over £22,000 worth of this product was shipped to that country. Substantial quantites are also being exported to Great Britain and the Channel Islands. Intensive efforts are being made to increase exports, especially to dollar areas.
The board has experienced a shortage of labour at many of the bogs, despite all efforts to recruit the required number of men. In its recruitment campaign last year the board maintained a close liaison with the Department of Social Welfare; Press and radio publicity was carried out; ex-employees to the number of 2,500 were offered reemployment by way of circular issued to their home address; free travel vouchers were issued to all applicants for employment on bogs to which hostels were attached; and at some of the works long-distance lorry transport was used to bring the men to work from as far distant as 20 miles. This year the board made a particularly thorough and determined effort to recruit adequate labour. Nevertheless, there remain to-day as many as 1,000 unfilled jobs in the board. I should like to make it clear to the House that a labour deficiency of such dimensions, if it contiuues, will seriously delay the development and production programme of the board.
The second development programme approved by the Government contemplates the production of an additional 1,000,000 tons of machine turf per annum in ten years from its inception, or earlier if this can be achieved. The full capital cost of the second development programme is estimated at £7,000,000, but it is proposed to provide in this Bill only for the cost of the preliminary work of drainage and preparation of the bogs. This work, which is estimated to cost £2,750,000, will be spread over a period of seven years. The second programme will include the development of bogs in the Counties of Offaly, Westmeath, Meath, Galway, Tipperary, Laoighis and Mayo.
It is not possible at this stage to indicate exactly how the board's entire output will be disposed of; markets are being built up as output becomes available but a preliminary survey which the board has made indicates that an annual output of 2,000,000 tons (1,000,000 from the first programme and 1,000,000 from the second) will be disposed of in the following manner: electricity generating stations, 900,000 tons; local markets, 900,000 tons; cities, 200,000 tons.
Apart from the important contribution towards the production of native fuel which the board's programme will provide, an equally important contribution towards the national welfare will be the additional employment represented by these schemes. It is expected that employment will be available at peak in 1951-52 for 8,000 men gradually rising to 12,800 by 1959-60 on the assumption that the second programme will be in full production by then.
In submitting its post-war plans to the Government some years ago the board emphasised the necessity for providing houses for workers, and efforts were made to have this problem solved by the erection of labourers' cottages by county councils. For a variety of reasons it was not found practicable to have labourers' cottages built for the board by county councils and the board resolved to tackle the problem itself. The number of cottages which it is proposed to erect is about 1,100 and the cost of the scheme is estimated at about £1,318,000. No decision has yet been taken as to whether the work will be by tender or by direct labour. It is proposed that the outlay shall be defrayed partly by grants and partly by repayable advances. Free grants equal to those made to rural housing authorities will be provided out of voted moneys and repayable advances from the Central Fund. Provision is made accordingly in Section 6 of the Bill. Free grants from the Transition Development Fund similar to those made to housing authorities will also be given. Provision for this purpose did not need to be made in the Bill since the power to make grants from that fund already exists under Section 30 of the Finance Act, 1946.
The board consulted a planning expert to advise on the housing scheme and as a result of his advice it has now been decided to group the cottages on a village basis instead of dispersing them along the roadside as originally contemplated. The board came to the conclusion that houses grouped in villages should be provided with water and sewerage and it is unlikely in any event that the public health authorities would look with favour on the creation of villages in which houses did not possess these amenities. It is, accordingly, proposed that the houses should be provided with water and sewerage. The rents to be charged, plus the board's contribution, will be applied in the payment of interest and repayment of the capital provided by the repayable advances.
The Bill also provides for an increase in the amount of the free grant towards experimental and research work by the board. Under the Act of 1946 an experimental station was set up by the board at Droichead Nua and has been in operation for over three years. The sum provided in that Act, viz., £120,000, has proved insufficient and it is proposed that it should be increased to £250,000. Deputies will agree that it is essential that the board should be encouraged to develop new methods as well as cheaper and more efficient means of producing turf and turf products; they will also appreciate that this cannot properly be accomplished unless the various problems involved are studied on a scientific basis.
A substantial proportion of the expenditure on the experimental station to date has been incurred on designing and testing machines, appliances and methods for increasing the degree of mechanisation in the board's operations. Such outlay, in my opinion, is money well and wisely spent, for I feel that the success of Bord na Móna will be measured by the extent to which it can mechanise the operations of turf winning. Mechanisation will increase productivity per man, reduce the cost of turf and remove much of the drudgery traditionally associated with turf production.
A brief review of the progress achieved to date with mechanisation may be of interest to members of the House. Starting with the drainage of virgin bog it has been demonstrated that first cuts to a depth of three feet can be quickly and successfully carried out in most areas by a Disc Ditcher, or more cheaply and expeditiously by a new type of machine known as a trencher. The problem of mechanising the first cuts, which are the most difficult, has, in fact, been solved in a very satisfactory manner and the savings resulting from the use of these machines will be of great importance in the board's economies. The suitability of other machines for this purpose and for deeper cuts is being examined by the board's experimental station. A machine for stripping the top layer of light turf from the bog prior to cutting has been designed and will shortly be in commission. Another machine for levelling the surface of the spread grounds has been designed and is now in use. Dragline excavators have been used on a large scale for heavy work on the outfalls to the bogs. The operation of cutting and spreading the turf has been completely mechanised. Up to the present the turf has been footed by hand and the footings have been loaded manually into sod collectors which rick them mechanically. The experimental station has designed a machine which, if successful, will eliminate manual labour on footing to a great extent. It is too soon yet to be optimistic as to the performance of this machine, but it is clear that, until some method of overcoming the difficulty of footing turf by hand has been devised, it will be the greatest labour problem facing the board. At present the turf is loaded by hand from the ricks into the light railway wagons, but loading machines are on order which will carry out this operation at the larger bogs. One of these machines is now in use in Clonsast. The turf is transported by light railway from the ricks to the loading point, and loaded on purchasers' vehicles by elevator or tipper in a manner which entails little manual work. The movement of the light rail track from one portion of a bog to another at present involves considerable manual work, but a machine devised for the purpose of eliminating much of this labour is about to be tested.
In addition to its activities designed to further mechanisation, the experimental station has undertaken a considerable amount of other useful work. It has completed an investigation into the production of waxes from peat, work which was initiated by Professor Reilly, University College, Cork. The Department is endeavouring to interest private initiative in the manufacture of these waxes, as a considerable market appears to exist for them. An experiment has been completed in the production of hydro-peat at Drumaru Bog, County Kildare, the object of which was to determine if high bog could be utilised for spreading and drying. A large-scale experiment in the production of hydro-peat is in progress this year at Derrylea Bog. The hydro-peat process is largely used on the continent and is of particular advantage in bogs with a high timber content which renders the operation of the normal turfcutting machine difficult and expensive. Small-scale experiments have been undertaken with the afforestation of high bog and cut-away and the agricultural reclamation of cut-away bog. The application of a statistical method to the variables in turf, to enable the average moisture content of air-dried sods to be measured, was made the subject of special study. Members of the staff have undergone special training in the testing of domestic cooking and heating appliances, and the estimation of the efficiency of such appliances for use with turf will be a special feature of the station's work. Structural alterations have been carried out to the existing building in the old military barracks, to provide suitable accommodation for the staff.
It is the intention that the station should continue the work for which it is maintained. It is expected that its activities will be concerned with many problems, but the energies of its personnel will be specially directed towards greater mechanisation and the cheapening of the cost of turf. The testing of domestic heating and cooking appliances for turf burning will be continued. Research will be undertaken into the possibility of commercially exploiting turf or the by-products of turf as a raw material for industry, e.g., insulating board. Inquiries will be continued into the utilisation of peat moss for agricultural, horticultural and industrial purposes. Fundamental research bearing on the production and use of turf and turf products will be undertaken.
Contact has been established and will be maintained with agencies abroad engaged on work of a similar nature, so that by a constant exchange of information and ideas this country may benefit from new inventions and developments. In this connection it is relevant to mention an important development with which the board has been associated and which, if successful, is likely to have important repercussions on the turf industry. Investigations are proceeding in Great Britain, under the auspices of the Ministry of Fuel and Power, for the development of gas turbines using peat of very high moisture content, and if these are successful a source of very cheap power from turf will be readily available.
It is also relevant to refer to the possibilities of milled peat as a source of power, especially for electricity generation. Milled peat is the material from which briquettes are manufac tured at the board's Lullymore factory. The material is air dried on the bog to 55 per cent. moisture before being brought to the factory where, for the purpose of briquetting, it is artifically dried to 10 or 15 per cent. moisture. It now appears to be well established that the air dried material at 55 per cent. moisture can be effectively used as pulverised fuel without any pre-drying for firing boilers. The board is in communication with the Electricity Supply Board on this and all other subjects connected with the generation of electricity from turf.
In conclusion, I wish to pay a tribute to the members of Board na Móna, as well as to its staff, for the progress achieved to date. In doing so, I would point out that the board did not inherit, as it were, a ready-made undertaking, operating a known and defined technique. On the contrary, the production of turf by mechanical methods on a large scale had to be devised by the board, which had not the advantage of the experience of others. The successful development of our large turf deposits on an economic basis depends upon the exercise of a high degree of ingenuity and skill. It is gratifying, too, that the preliminary operations have not resulted in a financial loss. The proven capacity of Bord na Móna in the field, and the soundness of its organisation, outdoor and indoor, give every ground for believing that the board's future, both productively and financially, is assured.
