Vol. 197 No. 2
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if investigation has been held into the liability of the proposed site for the fertiliser factory at Shelton Abbey, County Wicklow to flooding; and, if so, what was the outcome of these investigations.
28.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he is aware that, if Shelton Abbey, County Wicklow, is utilised as the site for the proposed fertiliser factory, it will be necessary to expend sums estimated at between £50,000 and £100,000 to ensure that the site will not be liable to flooding.
I propose with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle to take Questions Nos. 27 and 28 together.
The possibility of flooding at Shelton Abbey, Avoca, was fully considered when the suitability of the site for a fertiliser factory was under examination.
The estimated cost of providing adequate protection of the site against flooding is much less than £50,000. This cost, in accordance with normal practice, was taken into account in estimating the cost of the civil works involved in the development of the site, of which cost it is only an insignificant proportion.
Would the Minister convey to the Minister for Industry and Commerce that his decisions regarding the establishment, location and erection of this factory have been warmly welcomed by the people of the area concerned and supported by the vast majority of them and their public representatives?
29.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if in the course of the investigation of the nitrogenous fertiliser project at Arklow, County Wicklow, he adverted to the fact that a similar and much larger project at Milfordhaven in England was discontinued; if he has investigated the reasons for same; and if such investigation has affected the approach to the Arklow project.
My attention was directed, at the time, to the announcement of the decision to discontinue the Milfordhaven project, but the reasons for the decision were not, so far as I am aware, made public.
I have, however, seen a recent announcement which indicated that a project has now been formulated to produce ammonia from oil at a different location in Britain.
30.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he is aware that the production of nitrogenous fertilisers from natural gas in Trinidad is likely to result in a further reduction of the price of the finished product; and if this fact has affected his approach to the nitrogenous fertiliser project at Arklow, County Wicklow.
I am not aware from the information available to me as to the cost at which ammonia has been offered from Trinidad that such supplies of ammonia will result in a further reduction in the price of the finished product.
31.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if, having regard to Conclusion 36 in Chapter 24 of Economic Development published in November, 1958, that the "main difficulty in the establishment of an ammonium nitrate industry is the risk that demand for the product may not rise to the economic production level and that exports could not be disposed of at economic prices", he will state in respect of the proposed nitrogenous fertiliser factory (1) the minimum and the optimum levels of economic production therein, (2) the present national use of such fertiliser, referring to the relevant Trade Statistics of imports thereof, (3) the present import price per ton of such fertiliser, (4) details of the calculations leading to the claim that the home-produced fertiliser "will be marketed at prices competitive with prevailing import prices", (5) whether there will be any surplus for export and, if so, in what quantity and where such export surplus is to be disposed of and at what price, (6) whether there is any element of subsidy direct or indirect in the production of such fertiliser either for use at home or for sale abroad, and (7) the estimated employment to be given by the factory when completed, giving figures of such employment in comparable foreign establishments and further if those who compiled Economic Development and concluded as stated above have been consulted about and reported upon the present project and, if so, if he will publish their report.
The replies to the questions as numbered by the Deputy are as follows:—
(1) The factory is an economic unit with a design capacity of 150,000 tons per annum of nitrogenous fertiliser in the forms of sulphate of ammonia and calcium ammonium nitrate.
(2) Official statistics of imports for the latest fertiliser season, i.e., the 12 months ended 30th June, 1962, were sulphate of ammonia 101,969 tons, calcium ammonium nitrate 30,638 tons, total 132,607 tons. This shows an increase of 63 per cent. On the home demand in 1958, when Economic Development was published, of 81,219 tons.
(3) Official statistics do not segregate the different values for bagged and bulk fertilisers. I am informed, however, that the latest import prices c.i.f. (i.e. in ships hold) prices are, on average, as follows: Sulphate of Ammonia, £14 5s. Od. per ton in bags, £12 15s. Od. per ton in bulk; Calcium Ammonium Nitrate, £13 17s. 6d. per ton. The additional cost of moving the products from the ships hold into the importers' stores would include, inter alia, the costs of discharge, port dues and transport.
(4) Details of the factory costings are confidential. It would, quite obviously, seriously inhibit the operating company in their commercial operations to disclose such information. A special Committee of administrative and technical officers carried out intensive investigations during 1960 and 1961 and reported to me that the factory could compete with prevailing import prices. Nítrigin Éireann Teoranta have now confirmed that the terms of the factory contract establish beyond question that after full allowance for all the appropriate commercial costings the factory products can be sold at prices competitive with the prices of the comparable imported products.
(5) There should be no surplus for export. The factory is due to come into production during 1965, i.e. in two and a half years from now, and there is little doubt that the present home demand (132,000 tons last season) will reach, at least, the design capacity (150,000 tons) by then. As already indicated, it has increased by over 50,000 tons since 1958, when Economic Development was published.
(6) The answer is in the negative.
(7) The estimated employment figure is 300. There is no reliable information available as to employment in comparable industries abroad as chemical factories vary considerably in their range of products. We have no comparable industry in this country so far.
As to the remaining inquiries, the position is that all the Departments concerned with the assembly and evaluation of the material on nitrogenous fertilisers published in Economic Development, viz., the Departments of Agriculture, Finance and Industry and Commerce, were represented on the Committee which investigated the project and submitted, unanimously, the report on the basis of which the Government decided to establish the factory. I am not prepared to publish any reports containing costings and other purely commercial information furnished in confidence to me and, through me, to the Government. It will, of course, be my duty to place before the House the fullest possible information on the project when introducing, shortly, the legislation necessary to provide for the further financing of Nítrigin Éireann Teoranta.
Is it a fact that it was originally recommended by the experts that this factory should be situated at Shannonbridge, County Offaly? Is it not a fact that the experts proved with statistics that cheaper fertiliser could be provided by its manufacture at Shannonbridge and Blackwater?
The Minister for Industry and Commerce clarified the whole position in regard to the site of factory in the recent session of the Dáil. I have nothing to add.
Surely the Minister is aware that in two general elections this fertiliser factory was promised to the people of Offaly by the Fianna Fáil speakers?
I do not think that arises.
It is like the biscuit factory in Ballina.
The people of Offaly have been sold out by the Government.
32.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether a contract has been made with a German firm to construct a fertiliser factory near Avoca mines, the amount of the contract price, the proposed dates of commencement and completion, the raw materials to be used for fertiliser production at the proposed plant, the sources from which they will come, whether he is fully satisfied that all classes of fertilisers now imported can be produced in better quality and more cheaply than imported varieties, available now or in the future, for farmers and market gardeners at their own premises, in view of the facts and figures already submitted against the proposal by farming interests.
As I have already announced, a contract has been awarded to Messrs. Lurgi of Frankfurt Am Main, West Germany, for a nitrogenous fertiliser factory to be erected near Arklow, Co. Wicklow. The basic contract price is of the order of £5 million. The necessary civil engineering works are being put in hands at once and the factory is due to come into production early in 1965. Fuel oil, sulphur and limestone are the main raw materials. These commodities are freely available on a commercial basis. I am fully satisfied that the factory prices of sulphate of ammonia and calcium ammonium nitrate, produced to the prescribed technical standards, will be competitive with prevailing import prices. Accordingly, there is no reason why farmers and market gardeners should not receive their requirements at prices competitive with the prices they pay for the imported products.
Will the Minister say how many people or firms tendered for the contract to build this factory? How many tenders were received?
There was a number of tenders—I have not the exact number. The Minister for Industry and Commerce may be able to tell the Deputy the number.
Would it be possible for the Minister to tell me or shall I have to put down a question for next week?
Put down a question.
33.
andMr. McQuillan asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if an estimate has been made of the number of former employees of the Avoca copper mines who will be given employment at the new nitrogenous fertiliser factory.
It is anticipated that when work on the construction of the factory commences shortly it will provide employment almost at once for about 100 men and that this figure will expand to 400 or 500 during the years 1963 and 1964. It is not possible to estimate how many of these will be former employees of Avoca Copper Mines.
