asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he will consider introducing the rationing of coal and the fixing of a national price for it to ensure that all citizens will receive an equal supply at an equal price.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Coal Rationing.
Having regard to the steps which have already been taken to supplement the supplies of coal coming from European sources by purchases from America, the necessity for rationing coal will not, I hope, arise. It is not proposed to fix a national price for coal, as variations in the retail price of coal between one area and another are a normal feature of the trade.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary not aware that in parts of the country poor people and small retailers are unable to secure a sufficient amount of coal to supply people who buy in small quantities, while lorries arrive on the quays and take away loads of coal to distant parts of the country? In many cases people have secured at least two years' supply of coal, not to speak of one year's, while other people have to do without it altogether.
I understand that merchants are themselves operating an unofficial rationing system which ensures that consumers get supplies but, if there are any individual cases of difficulty which the Deputy has in mind, I shall be glad to have them examined.
Did the Minister not send an inspector down to Cork—an inspector who visited me when I was in bed sick—and was it not made perfectly clear to him that people in Cork had no coal and could not get it? Was it not made perfectly clear to him also that retailers who supply the poor people were getting only one-tenth of what they previously got, while big supplies of coal were going to certain individuals?
As a result of a telegram which the Deputy sent an inspector probably called on him, but the Deputy's telegram preceded the call by the inspector. That inspector discovered that only in one area of Cork City was there a temporary shortage and, due to the good offices of the firm with which Deputy Sheehan is associated, supplies were made available.
Is it a fact that the Government are now charging £9 per ton for what they were describing as dirt only two months ago?