asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he is aware that a number of employees of Bord na Móna who have been provided with board and lodging at the Bord hostel at Droichead Nua, County Kildare, have been notified that the hostel is to close on the 31st instant; and, if so, whether he will intervene in the matter with a view to keeping the hostel open owing to the difficulty on the part of the employees in securing suitable alternative accommodation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Closing of Bord na Móna Hostel.
The hostel in Droichead Nua was started in 1942 in connection with the Kildare emergency hand-won turf scheme and provided accommodation for approximately 200 turf workers. The emergency handwon turf scheme has now come to an end and there are no turf workers in the hostel. At the moment there are 33 persons of other grades resident in the hostel and this number will be shortly reduced to 16. It would be entirely uneconomic to operate the hostel for this number and I am not prepared to ask Bord na Móna to do so. All the residents have been aware for some months that it was not intended to keep the hostel open.
May I remind the Minister that even if only 16 men are retained, these men may not be from the county, and the closing of the hostel may be tantamount to their dismissal.
The Deputy will appreciate that the hostel was originally built for men employed on the hand-won turf scheme. It was built and planned to accommodate 200 men and it would be hopelessly uneconomic to keep the hostel open for 16 men.
Could the Minister not intervene and make some arrangement to provide them at least with shelter?
I am certainly prepared to ask Bord na Móna to do anything they can for these people, but I am certainly not prepared to ask them to keep the hostel open.