asked the Minister for Energy if IDA and FEOGA grants have been paid to Bord na Móna for the building of a peat briquette factory at Derryfadda, Ballyforan.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Briquette Factory.
2.
Neither IDA nor FEOGA grants have been paid to Bord na Móna for the building of a peat briquette factory at Derryfadda, Ballyforan.
If and when the ongoing review is completed on the building of a peat briquette factory at Derryfadda, will IDA or FEOGA grants then be paid? Could the Minister state when the review will be finally completed?
For the benefit of the Deputy, I should just give him a quick review of the facts in relation to the proposed factory. On 31 March 1979 the then Government agreed to the erection by Bord na Móna of a peat briquette factory in the Ballyforan area of County Galway which was part of their third development plan. On 26 May 1984, having evaluated the solid fuel market and concluding that the output of Ballyforan could not be absorbed by the market at an economic price, a decision was taken by the board to defer the Ballyforan project for one year. A review of this decision was carried out by Bord na Móna in 1985. The findings were that, having regard to the board's financial projections and briquette market prospects, the project should continue to be deferred while being kept under ongoing review.
Could I inform the Minister that it is very difficult at the moment to get peat briquettes in the west and I am sure the same applies in his part of the country? It is also very frustrating for the local farmers who gave away their bogs and for the reduced workforce down there to see tonnes of milled peat transported out of Derryfadda. Can the Minister tell us if the further processing of milled peat will take place now in Derryfadda to allow for the building of a briquette factory there.
As I told the Deputy, there are no plans at the present time to go ahead with this project.
I asked the Minister would the processing and development of bogs continue in Derryfadda as I have informed him that thousands of tonnes of milled peat are now being transported out of the area?
The question referred only to the grant, Deputy.
I did not get an answer.
That is a separate question.
Is the Minister positively in favour of this project going ahead? What is the Government position? Have Bord na Móna, the Minister, or the Department any plans for the extension of sod peat production in any other bogs in the west in 1986?
The Chair must draw the Deputy's attention to the question which asks about the payment of grants to Bord na Móna. This is a very short question.
While they are separate questions, if the Deputies who have an interest in the west wish to discuss matters pertaining to turf production or the efforts of Bord na Móna in the west, I will have no difficulty discussing them with them at any time in my office.
Is it not a fact that a grant was sanctioned by the IDA for the building of that briquette factory——
Yes, that is a fact.
——and that a review has been going on since 1984? Will that grant be paid when the decision is made to go ahead with the building of the briquette factory?
I would not like to preempt any decision by the IDA in relation to the payment of grants. The Deputy is correct when he says that the IDA had agreed in principle to a grant of £3 million towards the project in 1982. I assume Bord na Móna will make a fresh application to the IDA and the IDA tend to have a positive attitude to developments of this nature.
Can the Minister say when we can hope to see that application going ahead?
That is a matter for the board.
The Minister said the reason for not going ahead was the result of a market survey carried out by Bord na Móna in 1985. Will a similar survey be carried out in 1986? I cannot understand the results of that survey in view of fact that there is a widespread scarcity of briquettes and briquettes are being imported from Germany to fill the vaccuum.
I assume Deputy Reynolds was not out of the country for the long wet summer of last year.
I know that.
That obviously had adverse effects on the levels of production by Bord na Móna last year.
I am aware of that.
That will be taken into account in future projections.
The future does not seem to hold much for us.