I move:—
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £22,000 chun slánuithe na suime is gá chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1939, chun Deontas-i-gCabhair chun na Móna d'Fhorbairt.
That a sum not exceeding £22,000 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1939, for a Grant-in-Aid for Peat Fuel Development.
Deputies will recollect that a Grant-in-Aid was given to the Peat Fuel Development Company last year to enable them to complete the experimental work on which they were engaged. The funds provided by that Grant-in-Aid have now been expended, but, notwithstanding that, the position of the undertaking has not altered materially except, of course, that considerable further experience of the operations of the company has been acquired, but the undertaking cannot yet be regarded as a commercial proposition.
The amount of raw peat brought to the factory at the end of 1937 was estimated as sufficient to produce about 11,000 tons of briquettes, whereas the original estimate for the season was 30,000 tons. The company's present position is that further Government assistance is necessary to enable them to carry on their operations. The amount of the financial assistance required has been estimated at £30,000, of which about £5,300 is required for new plant and machinery. I am advised that if that assistance were forthcoming it would enable the company to carry on the milling and harvesting of about 120,000 tons of raw peat this year, from which about 40,000 tons of briquettes, it is estimated, would be manufactured.
This year, as last year, it is reasonably clear that the commercial prospects alone would not justify the giving of further assistance by the State. I feel, however, that the process worked by this company has not been fully tried out, and if the operations were now to cease no final conclusion could be reached as to the economic possibility of harvesting and briquetting peat in Ireland by the methods adopted by this company, and as a considerable amount of money has been provided, not altogether by the State but by private interests for the conduct of this experiment, it is advisable to bring the experiment to a conclusion, particularly, as I am advised by my technical experts and the board of the company and others who have examined the matter, there is good reason to anticipate that the technical difficulties of the company have been overcome and that the process can be shown to be practicable and worth proceeding with.
The amount advanced to the company is, of course, secured by a debenture on the assets of the company and we have an option to require the company to issue to us ordinary A shares against the money advanced, each of these ordinary shares carrying two votes as against the other ordinary shares, which have been designated as B shares. The position is that at any time the Government desires to exercise that option, it can acquire the voting control of the company. That, I think, is a reasonable safeguard in the circumstances. It is undoubtedly true that some of the private capital and other money invested in this company must be regarded as having been lost, in so far as it was expended upon experimental works which were not quite successful, and upon machinery which had to be subsequently adapted at additional cost before it became really suitable. At the same time, the enterprise offers such substantial prospects for development, if it is a success, that we think we should proceed with it to the end.
I will be in a position to report to the Dáil before the end of the year whether or not the additional expenditure has been justified by the success of the experiment. So far, I am informed, there is every appearance that it will be successful, and already a substantial harvest has been secured which will result in the production of a substantial quantity of fuel, the sale of which will bring in revenue for the company and assist its future operations.