asked the Minister for Defence if he will state the amount estimated to be saved in the current financial year and in a full year respectively through the cancellation of the free issue of fuel to married soldiers.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Cancellation of Free Fuel for Married Soldiers.
Fuel has never been a free issue to the occupants of soldiers' married quarters. When the present charge of 10/6 a week to a soldier for married quarters, furniture, fuel, light and water was fixed in 1929, it represented the cost to the State of these facilities at the time. Because of increased costs in the meantime, however, the figure of 10/6 a week no longer recoups the State for these services. The revised procedure, under which the issue of fuel will be discontinued and the rate of charge for the other items fixed at 5/- a week as from the 1st September next, will, it is estimated, reduce the State's loss by £7,636 during the present financial year and by £9,468 in a full financial year.