asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether free fuel deliveries to old age pensioners cease on a given date each year; and whether inclemency of weather is allowed for as a factor.
42.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Free Fuel Deliveries.
41.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether it would be possible when free fuel is being delivered to old age pensioners to bring the fuel in a container.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to answer Questions Nos. 41 and 42 together.
The cheap fuel scheme for which grants are made by my Department operates each year from November until the following March. The arrangements which some local authorities make for the delivery of fuel to recipients are not subject to my approval.
Is the Minister aware that even if there is wintry weather around March, this service may cease and surely there should be a little give and take in the matter? Further, there is the question of the fuel not being delivered in a container. Is the Minister aware that when the fuel is delivered to an old person's single room, it is dumped on the floor and the old person must store it? Can it not be delivered in some sort of container.
As I already indicated, we merely contribute towards this scheme which is operated by the local authorities in the few cities where it is operating — Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Waterford, I think. Each local authority makes its own arrangements for delivery. I think they do put it into containers in some cases.
In the city of Dublin, it is the practice, and I have had many cases of this kind, that the turf is delivered bang in the middle of the floor and the old age pensioners themselves must store it away. Surely it would be possible to get some uniformity into the manner of delivery in the different local authority areas. It is a very small thing but it is the difference between bureaucracy with a heart and bureaucracy acting in a stupid fashion.