asked the Taoiseach if he will state the total amount of coal imported into this country from 1st April, 1949, to 31st December, 1949, and if he will further state the amount of imported coal purchased for use by State Departments and local authority institutions during the same period.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Coal Imports.
The total amount of coal imported into this country in the period April-December, 1949, amounted to 1,291,630 tons.
Coal purchased for use by State Departments (other than Garda stations outside the Metropolitan area in the same period amounted to 17,138 tons.
Garda stations outside the Metropolitan area are granted an allowance to purchase turf, timber or coal as required and the Minister for Justice has no official returns of such purchases. It will be necessary to circularise the Garda stations concerned to ascertain the total amount of coal purchased in the specified period, but some difficulty might arise in certain areas in distinguishing between native and imported coal. Furthermore, the fuel-purchasing year runs from 1st May to 30th April and it would be more convenient to ascertain coal purchases for that period. If, therefore, the Deputy cares to frame a further question on this subject and to put it down after the Recess, the information he requires may then be available.
As regards local authority institutions, of which there are approximately 950, including hospitals, sanatoria and dispensaries, the type of fuel to be used therein is a matter for the county manager, and the Minister for Health has no function in the matter and has no official returns bearing on the point. The trouble and expense which would be involved in examining the accounts of local authorities to extract the information required would not be justified.