Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 3 Mar 1959

Vol. 173 No. 3

Committee on Finance. - Turf Development Bill, 1959—Second Stage.

Minister for Industry and Commerce (Mr. S. Lemass)

I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. The main purpose of this Bill is to authorise an increase of £5,000,000 in the amount which Bord na Móna may borrow from the Central Fund or other sources for the performance of its functions. This increase will permit the board to borrow up to a maximum of £19,000,000. The Bill also removes the limit of £2,000,000 on the amount which the board may, with the consent of the Ministers for Finance and Industry and Commerce, borrow from sources other than the Central Fund. Total borrowings will, of course, be limited in any event to the overriding figure of £19,000,000.

The capital of Bord na Móna was fixed at £14,000,000 by the Turf Development Act, 1953. At that time, it was estimated that output in 1960 would be: 874,000 tons of machine turf of which at least 390,000 tons would be used for electricity generation; 2,530,000 tons of milled peat practically all of which was to be used for electricity generation; between 45,000 and 50,000 tons of briquettes and between 100,000 and 150,000 bales of peat moss.

The board's development programme was, of course, closely related to the E.S.B. generation programme. When the E.S.B. programme was revised early in 1956, a total of 180 MW. which it had been intended to base on milled peat was eliminated from the programme. This reduced E.S.B. estimated requirements of milled peat by over 1,000,000 tons per annum. The planned capacity of the Ferbane generating station, for which the Boora Bog was being developed, was reduced from 100 MW. to 60 MW. and that of the Rhode Station, for which Derrygreenagh Bog was being developed, from 80 MW. to 40 MW. Bellacorick Station, which was to be based on Oweninny Bog, and Shannonbridge Station, based on Blackwater Bog, were postponed indefinitely. Approval has been given for the construction of a briquetting factory on each of the bogs at Boora and Derrygreenagh, each of which will produce annually 100,000 tons of briquettes and will require a total of about 600,000 tons of milled peat per annum. The Turf Development Act, 1957, authorised the board to obtain the capital for these factories, estimated to be £1,800,000. as far as possible from sources other than the Exchequer. As the House is aware the board has, in fact, already received a loan of £500,000 from Messrs. Arthur Guinness, Son & Co., Ltd.

The revised estimates of Bord na Móna's production for 1960 were then: milled peat, 1,300,000 tons per annum, of which about 450,000 tons would be used for briquettes and the balance for electricity generation; machine turf, 960,000 tons per annum of which about 500,000 tons would be used in the E.S.B. stations and the balance for industrial and domestic purposes; briquettes, 150,000 tons by 1960 increasing ultimately to 250,000; and peat moss, 200,000 bales.

In October, 1957, the Government decided that the generating station at Bellacorick, County Mayo, should be reinstated in the E.S.B. generation programme. The station is expected to come into commission in 1962-63. It will require about 320,000 tons of milled peat per annum and Bord na Móna are at present preparing the Oweninny Bog to supply that quantity.

During the past year, discussions have been proceeding regarding the electricity generating capacity which will be required subsequent to the commissioning of the Bellacorick station. As a result of these discussions the E.S.B have decided to install an additional 40 MW. at Rhode in 1964 and an additional 20 MW. at Ferbane some time prior to 1965-66. To meet the requirements of the E.S.B., Bord na Móna propose to develop new areas of bog at Boora, for the Ferbane Station, and at Derrygreenagh, for the Rhode Station, to produce 550,000 tons of milled peat per annum. I will shortly be introducing a Bill to provide amongst other things for increased capital for the E.S.B.

Bord na Móna also plan to supply milled peat for the proposed nitrogenous fertiliser factory. Deputies will recollect that it was announced last August that Blackwater Bog, County Offaly, would be reserved as a source of milled peat for a factory for the production of ammonium nitrate. Some development work has already been carried out on Blackwater Bog and Bord na Móna are arranging to have the bog ready for further development when required. The economic and technical problems associated with the establishment of the factory are at present being examined. The requirements of the factory are estimated at 150,000 tons of milled peat annually for 60 years.

In the course of their discussions with the E.S.B., Bord na Móna undertook to make available 350,000 tons of milled peat per annum from 1965-66 onwards in the Garryduff group of bogs which are situated on the opposite side of the Shannon from Blackwater bog. It is intended that the two bogs should be developed as one unit to supply the power-station and the fertiliser factory. When the E.S.B. erect this station, the total production of Bord na Móna will amount to 3,000,000 tons of milled peat in 1965-66, of which 2.1 million tons will be used for electricity generation, 750,000 tons for the production of briquettes in the three factories and 150,000 tons for the nitrogenous fertiliser factory, in addition to the 1,000,000 tons of sod peat, of which 500,000 tons will be used for electricity generation.

In the exercise of their powers under the Turf Development Act, Bord na Móna will, it is estimated, have borrowed a total of not less than £13,928,000 by——

General Mulcahy

What is the date?

Mr. S. Lemass

By to-day—the present day. Bord na Móna will have borrowed a total of not less than £13,928,000 by 31st March, 1959, of which £500,000 will have been borrowed from sources other than the Central Fund.

General Mulcahy

Is all the rest from the Central Fund?

Mr. S. Lemass

All the rest is from the Central Fund. To carry out the development programme which was envisaged up to 1965-66 it is estimated that Bord na Móna would require to borrow up to £22,000,000, apart from capital, estimated at about £2.5 million, which they expect to obtain from their own resources. It is considered, however, that the limit of the board's borrowing powers need not be raised at this stage beyond £19,000,000 which will assure adequate capital for the board for 1959-60 and up to the end of the financial year 1960-61. It is anticipated that further legislation making additional provision will be required in 1961.

The second and minor purpose of the Bill is to remove the limitation of £2,000,000 on the amount which Bord na Móna may borrow from sources other than the Central Fund. It is considered that the retention of that limit is not necessary and should an opportunity for such borrowing arise at any time, the board should be in a position to avail itself of it, with of course, the consents of the two Ministers concerned. I may say that, it is, however, unlikely that the board will be able to borrow in excess of £2,000,000 from outside sources.

An aspect of the operations of Bord na Móna which is also deserving of mention to the House is their production of peat moss. Sales of that commodity were £51,000 in the year ended 31st March, 1953. In the year ended 31st March, 1958, sales had risen to almost £120,000, about three-quarters of which were export sales. Last year, however, owing to adverse weather, production fell by about 50 per cent. Encouraged, however, by the steady demand for their product, the board has enlarged the Kilberry factory and is at present erecting a second factory based on Allen Bog. The peat moss bog at Coolnamona, in Laois, has been acquired by Bord na Móna and a third factory based on that bog is intended.

Bord na Móna is one of the largest employers in the country as Deputies are aware and it offers employment in areas where other industry is sparse. In the current year employment at the peak period will be available for approximately 7,000 workers and that figure is expected to increase eventually to 9,000.

The steady progress which Bord na Móna is making in the exploitation of one of the most profuse of our natural resources, the volume of employment which it offers, and the substantial contribution which it makes to our power requirements are all matters on which the board is to be congratulated. In the confidence that the Dáil will share that view, I recommend this Bill for approval.

General Mulcahy

Could the Minister give any idea as to what the value of the gross annual provision to the board is at the present time and what the net annual income would be?

Mr. S. Lemass

Oh, yes. There are annual accounts published which contain that information.

General Mulcahy

Has any estimate been made for the annual position for, say, the next five years?

Mr. S. Lemass

No. I do not think I could say an estimate covering the next five years has been made. The most recent accounts are those up to 31st March, 1958, and they have been published. No doubt, accounts for the current year will be available very soon. The board has shown a substantial surplus up to 1958 and it has repaid a large part of its indebtedness to the State. I am afraid 1958 will turn out to be a bad year and the accounts, no doubt, will be considerably disimproved, owing to the weather conditons which prevailed, so that any estimate for the future based on 1958 would be unreliable.

General Mulcahy

I take it there has been some forecasting for the next four or five years?

Mr. S. Lemass

It is not a problem of forecasting in a financial sense. Practically all the increased production will be sold to the E.S.B. and the aim of the board is to keep the cost to the E.S.B. as low as possible and to remunerate their own capital. That is the basis on which they work.

General Mulcahy

I take it that even if sold to the E.S.B., terms of money will be involved.

Mr. S. Lemass

Yes. The products of briquette factories have to be sold on the open market. The figure given to me is that the estimate of the value of production for 1965 is of £5,000,000 gross.

Mr. Norton

The development and evolution of Bord na Móna is one of those heartening developments in our national economy. There is no doubt that the work which the board has done in endeavouring to drain lands, in converting previously unused and, indeed, ignored fuel to the satisfying condition in which we now utilise that fuel to generate electricity is, I think, something to be commended by all Parties in this House. The board undertook an extremely difficult task. The problem of draining the land, especially in the Central Basin, was a particularly tough one. Any experiments in that field previously had been foredoomed to failure, and some to substantial loss, and there was generally abroad an atmosphere that these bogs were bewitched by fairies and it was better to leave them alone— you could get nothing out of them. However, all these difficulties have been overcome and the board is now a substantial, producer of a national product which is valuable, not only as a generator of electricity, but as a generator of steam in boilers, and as a domestic fuel and, in addition to this valuable product, a very substantial amount of employment is given by the board in the production of the fuel in question.

I think the Minister will find general gratification on all sides of the House that Bord na Móna is doing so well. It was, unfortunately, the subject of political contention in its early years. I never shared that view myself, personally, but I think all these difficulties have now been overcome. I think the loves and the hates are over and everybody concerned with the promotion of Bord na Móna is entitled to take a justifiable pride in its progress. I think, therefore, the board should know that the House is behind it in all its efforts to develop our bogs for the winning of fuel, and for the ultimate conversion of the bogs into arable land or at least into land which can be afforested to the national advantage and which, again in the course of time, will yield a very valuable product for the nation.

I have nothing but admiration for the sense of dedication—if I may so put it—with which the board applies itself, and with which the staff applies itself, to the task of winning fuel from the bogs. Some of these young engineers, and some of the workers employed on the bogs, have a pretty tough time endeavouring to work under the conditions which operate in these flooded, swampy, wind-swept bogs throughout the country, but they have triumphed over all these difficulties. We owe them recognition for that sense of dedication and that tenacity, indeed, relentless tenacity, which has enabled them to accomplish such an excellent task in such a relatively short period of time.

There is one aspect of employment with Bord na Móna which, if anything, is unsatisfactory and will remain unsatisfactory, unless we find something to fill the lacuna. Work with Bord na Móna starts at various times from February onwards, and continues until October. It may be a little later, but normally work tapers off in September and October. After that, only skilled staff are retained in employment, but even that staff suffer by way of a lower rate of wages because the incentives which operate during the earlier part of the year do not operate during the winter. During the winter months, a large number of workers employed by Bord na Móna are virtually compelled to exist on the labour exchange from October to February, unless they are lucky enough to get a job under a local authority grant. I think that is a blot on employment with Bord na Móna, but the board itself is not responsible.

Cutting and harvesting are seasonal jobs and, of course, like every other seasonal job, they inevitably have the casualisation which is associated with seasonal employment. I recognise that there are very definite difficulties to be surmounted, but consideration should be given to the possibility of giving Bord na Móna powers to plant fringe areas on the bogs which they own. Again, I know there are difficulties because of the board's method of using the bogs, that is, of farming the bogs. The whole bog does not become usable for afforestation until all the layers of turf are taken off it, and the anticipation is that, in the main, that condition will arise all over the bog at the same time. However, there are fringe areas associated with turf.

Turf just does not start and go on down after you meet clay. There are various layers of turf after you leave arable and pasturable land, and it is in these areas where turf is not deep, and where the board has fringe turbary which it would not use itself because it has no value for turf cutting, it might be possible to get the board to examine the possibility of planting some of them. If that could be done, it would give work and would help to provide employment between October, when the staff are paid off, until the following February, when they are taken on again for the next year's work. There is a great deal to be said in favour of such a scheme of employment which would absorb staff during that period.

In Germany, I have examined electricity stations which were fired by turf and the steam, after being used for generation, was trapped in pipes and then pumped into land which was covered by glass. In those glasshouses, I saw tomatoes, cucumbers, and a variety of other vegetables being grown which could only be grown in well-heated glasshouses. The E.S.B., of course, is not concerned with that kind of development but Bord na Móna might be concerned with a development of that kind. After all, we have very substantial imports of that type of vegetables and if that matter were examined, with a view to trapping the waste steam from the electricity generating stations on the bogs, a valuable source of employment might be provided for workers who would otherwise have to live during the winter months on what they get from the employment exchange.

I have no doubt there will be difficulties in the way. There were difficulties in the way of the German scheme to which I have made reference, but the difficulties were overcome and, when I saw these places, I saw large numbers of workers in about eight acres of glasshouses producing excellent crops and getting very good wages for doing that, at a time of the year when they were not employed on the bogs. If it can be done elsewhere, we are not so intellectually deficient that we could not do it here. I suggest the Minister might at least have the matter examined to see if there is any possibility of giving powers to Bord na Móna in that, or any other field, to eradicate that blot which is on Bord na Móna now, namely, that if you are employed by Bord na Móna, you are almost certain to be paid off for four months of the year. If we could provide employment during those four months, it would eliminate that blot, and at the same time, we would be providing useful products. I am sure the pioneering spirit of Bord na Móna will be equal to any task or any assignment given to them. I shall conclude by saying that any proposal to give the board new capital for new endeavours of the same fruitful kind as they produced in the past will have my personal support at all times.

Mr. S. Lemass

Everybody is concerned with the seasonal character of Bord na Móna's employment and a great deal of thought has been put into the possibilities of associating with the work of Bord na Móna other activities which would tend to absorb the labours of those who are not required on the bogs during the winter months. That problem will not be as acute in the future as in the past. The highly seasonal character of the work was far more pronounced when sod peat was the main product. The milled peat method of production does tend to smooth out the peaks and eliminate to a large extent the problem of seasonal unemployment. Some seasonal element will remain and discussions are proceeding between Bord na Móna and the Forestry Division of the Department of Lands as to the possibility of carrying out afforestation on the waste areas—if they may be so described— adjoining the bogs on which the board are working.

I have been interested for a long time in the possibility of utilising the waste heat of power stations for horticultural or agricultural purposes. A great deal of examination of possibilities in that direction has been undertaken not merely here but in many other countries. So far as I know, the only station in the world where it has been successfully done is the Weismoor Station in Germany to which Deputy Norton referred. A large number of people in this country are convinced it is technically and economically feasible and at the present time there is a committee examining possibilities from both technical and economic points of view.

May I say the Deputy is wrong in assuming that this is more a task for Bord na Móna than the E.S.B. Indeed, the technical people associated with this committee are E.S.B. personnel and it would be a question of utilising the productive capacity of the E.S.B. rather than of Bord na Móna if it could be done, whether through the E.S.B. or through some new organisation of the Department of Agriculture which is associated with the examinations. Again, it would help to introduce more stability into the employment available arising out of these operations.

I think Bord na Móna—if I may end on this note—would be very much attracted to any type of development in the bog areas which might employ girls. They believe their menfolk would be happier if there was more feminine society in the vicinity.

Mr. Norton

There are other reasons too.

Question put and agreed to.

Mr. S. Lemass

The House will appreciate that it is necessary to have the Bill passed in this financial year because Bord na Móna are now beginning to run beyond the limit fixed by legislation.

General Mulcahy

The House will probably give all stages on Thursday.

Committee Stage ordered for Thursday, 5th March, 1959.

The Dáil adjourned at 8.45 p.m. until 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 4th March, 1959.