asked the Minister for Supplies if he will guarantee the supplies of paraffin fuel necessary to millers who are grinding wheat for human consumption and other corn for live-stock feeding.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Millers' Paraffin Supplies.
Permits to purchase kerosene are issued to owners of mills who furnish satisfactory evidence of the work to be done. The continuance of allocations to these millers will depend on the supplies of kerosene available.
I have received complaints from millers about the supply they received. One particular man applied for 300 gallons and he only got 40 and 60. He was with me yesterday and told me that he has not a drop of paraffin oil now, while his stores and outhouses are full of corn and his mill is lying idle. This man always ground for human food and this year there are so many cottiers and farmers bringing bags to him that I think the Minister ought to try to do something for him and men like him.
Can the Minister do anything for millers so circumstanced?
All millers who have applied for kerosene for the crushing and grinding of corn have received the quantities which we considered appropriate to the work which they have to do.
Does the Minister appreciate that a mill, even where it is not operated by an oil engine but by a water wheel, cannot operate if the mill is in darkness? Will the miller get an allocation of oil to illuminate the mill while the wheel is working? He cannot work in the dark.
Why can he not work in the daylight?
Because he cannot get the work done.
Will Deputies try to get it into their heads that the quantity of paraffin oil which we have available is very small in relation to our normal requirements? We cannot give people all the paraffin they want. The reason we have to control its distribution is because we have not sufficient, and therefore some people will have to do without paraffin.
We are asking the Minister if, in the judgment of the Government, a wheat miller serving the community by grinding essential foodstuffs is a person of whom a clear exception ought to be made. Is his work of a character which ought to be taken out of the general ruck so that he may be given sufficient oil to light his mill while grinding? I think a case can be made for the miller which cannot be made for the retail shopkeeper and people in ordinary avocations who must not expect paraffin. Is there a case for the miller? I suggest that there is.
If the millers do not get oil, the wheat cannot be ground. What is the use of asking farmers to grow wheat if it cannot be milled?
In reply to Deputy Keating, who is talking about the provision of paraffin oil for the driving of plant required for crushing and grinding grain, everybody who has applied for paraffin for such a purpose has received a quantity which in the opinion of my officials was sufficient to enable him to do the work he had to do. I am sure they did not get the amount they applied for, because they usually exaggerate the amount they require. But, having regard to the amount of work they will have to do and the type of plant they have, they received the quantity of paraffin oil which was regarded as sufficient, but barely sufficient to enable them to complete the work.
Is the Minister aware that a number of millers have tons and tons of grain in their stores waiting to be ground but they cannot work the mills because of want of oil?
What measures are taken to check up on the amount required? How does the Minister's Department determine the amount?
By a variety of methods.
Sometimes the amount allocated is altogether insufficient.
Surely if the Minister agrees that it is necessary for a miller with an oil-driven mill to get oil to work his mill, the case of a miller with a water mill who cannot grind if he has not the light whereby to grind, ought to be considered, because we get the wheat ground without the expenditure of paraffin in an engine, as the river will turn the mill.
The amount of paraffin made available for lighting is very limited, and persons who require it for lighting workshops of any kind will have to alter their hours of work in order to take the fullest possible advantage of the daylight. It is only in very exceptional circumstances that additional supplies for that purpose can be given over and above the prescribed ration.
I am thinking of a particular water mill which at this time of year works the 24 hours of the day. The miller himself works in the day time and his son at night. If he does not get the wherewithal to illuminate the mill, it cannot be kept working? Surely cases like that should be sympathetically considered.
I have not had an opportunity of looking into that matter yet.
If representations are made on these lines they will be considered?
Yes, in relation to the supply position.