asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he has received a resolution from the Skibbereen Urban Council asking for a free unemployment relief grant of £300 to the Skibbereen Urban Council for the purpose of opening the ricks of turf stored on the Fair Field and the proper footing and drying of same; and in view of the necessity for dry turf that exists in the town of Skibbereen and the heavy liability already incurred by the urban council if he will state what steps he proposes to take in connection with this application.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - West Cork Unemployment Relief Grant.
The resolution has been received. The turf in question was removed by the council from the bog before it was properly dried. Further investigation as to whether the course proposed would render the turf suitable for use must be made before a decision on the council's recommendation can be come to.
Is the Minister aware that the Skibbereen Urban Council is £2,450 in debt already and that, if a substantial grant is not given, the ratepayers of the town cannot bear any further taxation? I also wish to know if the Minister is aware that the condition of this turf is due to the previous Parliamentary Secretary, the late Deputy Flinn, advising the Cork County Council and the Skibbereen Urban Council to cut turf in the end of July and August and into September, when any man with any knowledge of turf knew it could not be dried? Will the Minister answer, please?
Possibly, if the Deputy resumes his seat.
I have another question to ask. Is the Minister aware that, in June of last year, in the town of Skibbereen, turf was unprocurable and the poor people had great difficulty in starting their fires? Were it not for the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Parties distributing literature through the town, during the election, they would have none. Will the Minister give a definite answer as to when the Government will give the people an opportunity of lighting their fires in that way again?
That is a separate question.
I am afraid the second part is a separate question. With regard to the first part, the Deputy is quite correct. I understand the Skibbereen Urban Council has an overdraft of £2,500 in respect of this turf, but if they have, it is because the people responsible did not handle this proposal in a proper and businesslike way. I am sure they knew as much about the cutting and saving of turf as any Deputy or any other person in Ireland, but they chose to remove their turf from the bogs in an unsaved and unusable condition. It could not be sold and the responsibility is theirs. We are trying to help them out, but we cannot spend public money unless we are satisfied that we are going to have some combustible turf in return.
Is the Minister aware that this turf was removed under the direction of the surveyors, who are under his Department? Is he also aware that the previous Parliamentary Secretary, the late Deputy Flinn, promised that the turf cut between the 21st July and the middle of September would be paid for? The Minister tries to get out of that by saying that the turf was not dry, though everybody knew the turf would not be dry.
I am sorry to contradict the Deputy, but I am aware to the contrary. The undertaking given on behalf of the Government was that we should be responsible for any loss, where that loss did not arise out of wilful neglect by the local authority concerned or its officers. In this case, the county surveyor and those handling the turf were responsible to Skibbereen Urban Council and they must stand or fall by that.
The county surveyors acted on the Minister's instructions.
No.