asked the Minister for Supplies if he is aware (1) that almost all the shops selling bread in Dublin have reduced the bread ration to the customers in recent weeks, and that the shopkeepers complain that they have been cut in their rations by certain supplies; (2) that there is grave discontent in all parts of Dublin due to the present system of bread distribution whereby shopkeepers find it impossible to arrive at a fair distribution, and many needy families are still experiencing great hardship; (3) that the number of complaints received daily by his Department is so great that many days and often weeks have to pass before they are investigated, even in cases of severe hardship which deserve urgent attention; and (4) that in most cases of hardship the officers of his Department have been unable to effect a remedy; and if in view of all these facts he will adopt some better method of rationing bread.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Bread Supplies.
There are no grounds for the sweeping statement in the first part of the Deputy's question. On Saturday last the Deputy gave particulars of a few cases in which consumers are finding difficulty in getting bread supplies and these are being investigated. On Saturday also, one case came under the notice of the Department in which it would appear that a particular baker had some difficulty in supplying his retail customers with bread and this also is being investigated.
The statement in the question, that the number of complaints received daily by my Department is so great that many days and often weeks have to pass before they are investigated, is absolutely without foundation, as is also the statement that in cases of hardship officers of the Department have been unable to effect a remedy. There are special officers assigned to Dublin in connection with the distribution of bread and flour, and all complaints are investigated almost immediately on receipt. Furthermore, practically every case investigated in which the complaint was justified has been satisfactorily settled.
As indicated on a number of occasions, a scheme for the rationing of bread is under preparation.
Will the Minister say what remedy his officers are able to effect in a case when complaint is made that a large family is only able to get one loaf of bread?
They arrange for a supply of bread.
Who is deprived then?
Nobody is deprived.
Will the Minister make inquiries with regard to the position in the Marino area on last Saturday? Is he aware that to-day, in Wexford Street, there were 300 people outside a bread shop, and that in many cases they complain that they are kept waiting four hours in a queue before they can get their bread supply. Surely Ministers see that when passing up and down. A Minister living in Dollymount must see what is going on in Fairview, and at Boland's in the North Strand. Very often there are queues there for hours at a time.
There is no necessity for queues since adequate and regular supplies are sent out from the bakeries to the shops. The circumstances on a Monday or on a day following a bank holiday are exceptional, and do not arise on any other day.
Notwithstanding the Minister's frequent statement that if complaints are made they will be investigated, is he aware that there are cases in which complaints have not been investigated?
I am not so aware.
I will send them to the Minister.
Will the Minister say, with regard to the Marino area, whether the matter that I drew his attention to has been investigated. Does he still insist that there is no necessity for queues in Marino, except perhaps on a bank holiday week-end?
There is no necessity for queues. Every case in which a complaint was made has been investigated, and in no case was it found that there was a necessity for queues. The queues were, in fact, frequently composed of people who had already got their supply of bread elsewhere and who were hoping to augment it by getting additional supplies from other bakers' shops.
Does that apply to people who attended in queues at 6 o'clock in the morning?
I am not aware of any such case.
I quoted here in the Dáil, and in a written statement, particulars with regard to queues in the Marino area.
The officers of my Department who have investigated every such case that has arisen have reported to me consistently that in no case was there any justification, except perhaps a certain amount of undue anxiety on the part of people, for the formation of queues. In each of these shops the supply of bread was more than ample to give a full supply to all registered customers.
The Minister is talking nonsense.
Does the Minister seriously suggest that the poor women who are standing outside Kennedy's shop in the Coombe at the present moment are standing there for fun?
No.
Why are they standing there?
It has become, very largely, a matter of habit with them.
To get up at 6 o'clock in the morning to stand in a queue.
What I say is that every person who is registered as a customer at these shops will get a full supply of bread before the evening.
But they do not get it.
The Deputy is completely and entirely inaccurate.
I am not.
Well, the Deputy is wrong.
The Minister does not know anything about it.
I know a lot more than the Deputy, judging by the way he is talking.
Notwithstanding the Minister's bold front in this House and outside, shopkeepers and consumers alike are still very gravely dissatisfied with the system. The shopkeepers are distracted, and the consumers are hungry. Will the Minister adopt some system that will ensure that everyone will get the minimum?
asked the Minister for Supplies if he is aware that, whilst the number of families now in the Cabra area is 521 more than in 1940, the allocation of bread to Cabra shopkeepers is based on their purchases in 1940, and if he will take steps to increase the supplies to that area accordingly.
I am aware that there has been an increase in the number of families in the Cabra area since 1940, but my information is that that area is well supplied with bread. Any cases of shortage reported to my Department will be investigated.
Is the Minister aware that people in the Cabra area have to pay 2d. and 3d. in bus fares to come back to the city areas where they originally lived to try to get their share of bread? Will the Minister put on a few extra inspectors with a view to seeing what is being done and so that they may tell him of the conditions in that area?
I am well aware of the conditions. I am aware that a new bakery was opened in that area last year, and that its output represents an increased supply for the area.
I was up there on Saturday and saw the conditions.