asked the Minister for Supplies if he will state if he has received applications from Lucan Dairy, Ltd., Parkgate, Dublin, for permits to purchase lorries and the reason for the refusal of the applications; if he is aware that the Lucan Dairy, Ltd., have experienced great difficulty in having milk from the sale area promptly collected because of the poor condition of their lorries; and, if so, if he proposes to take any action to enable the firm to obtain a quota of new lorries.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Milk Supplies.
It was not necessary at any time to obtain a permit from the Department of Supplies to purchase lorries and, consequently, the point referred to in the first part of the Deputy's question does not arise. The Lucan Dairies, Ltd., in common with a number of other firms, represented to me that they were having difficulty in carrying on their business owing to the poor condition of their lorries and they requested that priority should be given to them in the distribution of a number of new lorries which were imported from Great Britain during the early part of the present year. These lorries were reserved at my request for the public transport companies. The Lucan Dairies, Ltd., and other firms were informed that I was unable to intervene in support of the application to purchase made by any individual firm. I regret that there is no action which I can take to assist the Lucan Dairies, Ltd., in this connection.