asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he is aware of the extreme hardship imposed on poor people by the latest increase in coal prices, and, if so, if he will state the factors which governed his decision to authorise the increase, and if he will make a statement in the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Coal Price Increase.
I would remind the Deputy that coal prices were released from statutory control in January, 1953. Nevertheless, when the coal merchants proposed recently to increase the price of coal in Dublin by 7/6 a ton, the Prices Advisory Body, at my request, undertook an investigation of the matter. A public inquiry was held by the Advisory Body on the 21st October, 1955. As a result of the inquiry and of their subsequent examination of the evidence, the body were satisfied that the increase was unavoidable, being attributable in the main to increases in the cost of the handling and distribution of coal under the headings of wages and sea freights; part of the increase arose from the necessity of importing a quantity of coal from the U.S.A.