asked the Minister for Supplies whether he will give more than 14 pounds of sugar for jam making to persons who have large quantities of fruit in their own gardens.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Sugar for Jam-Making.
Having regard to present stocks and probable future supplies of sugar, it will not be possible to increase the quantity allocated for home jam-making without serious depletion of the supplies available for ordinary domestic and industrial purposes. I am, therefore, unable to increase the maximum allowance of 14 lbs. of sugar for jam-making during the soft fruit season but householders will also be entitled to receive during the hard fruit season, from the 1st September to 30th November, a further allowance for this purpose up to a maximum of 28 lbs.
If every citizen is entitled to get three stones of sugar, in all, for the preservation of his fruit, would the Minister not consider allowing individuals to have the entire allocation, for the preservation of soft fruits exclusively, now, on the understanding that they would be entitled to no further allocation in the autumn? There are large numbers of people on whose hands soft fruit is going bad which could be saved if they got their total allocation now. These people would readily forgo their allocation for the preservation of hard fruit and turn their hard fruit to some other useful purpose. Hard fruit will keep, whereas soft fruit will not.
I could not agree to that. I think that the granting of increased allocations of sugar for home jam-making from soft fruit now would lead only to further demands for sugar for jam-making from hard fruit later and the sugar is not available.
The whole House will sympathise with the Minister in connection with this matter. He has, I suppose, gone as far as it is humanly possible to go. Having made his determination as to the allocation of sugar for this purpose, where part of a person's fruit is of a character that will keep and the balance is of a character that will decompose, uneaten, unless turned into jam, would it not be the right thing to allow the full allocation for the preservation of the soft fruit now? The whole House will support the Minister in refusing demands for any additional allowance if he gives the three stones now, having given full notice that a person drawing the three stones now will get no sugar next autumn.
I should draw attention to the practical difficulty arising out of the fact that arrangements have been made on the basis of the allocation I have mentioned. The applications now exceed 80,000 and will, probably, reach 90,000. If we were to change the basis of the allocation now, each of these persons would, presumably, have to be allowed to send in a further application, which would involve an administrative burden on the Department beyond its resources.
Surely there ought to be some way out. There are hundreds of people with quantities of soft fruit which will go bad if sugar be not available. Hard fruit will keep for home consumption even if it is not converted into jam.
Persons with soft fruit will have little difficulty in finding a market for it amongst the jam manufacturers. The quantity of home-made jam which can be made must be determined by the quantity of sugar available, not by the quantity of fruit.
But if the sugar is there, why not give it while the soft fruit is still available for conversion into jam and tell the people who look for three stone now to make up their minds that they will not get any later on?
That would be a gamble I would not be justified in taking.