In four questions yesterday I pointed out to the Minister for Industry and Commerce a situation which had arisen in portion of my constituency which has caused considerable local anxiety and which I think contains within itself a matter of national importance. I put down these questions, not for the purpose of causing any obstruction to the Minister or to Bord na Móna, but for the purpose of obtaining so far as I could information and particulars. It is proper that the House should appreciate the significance of this matter, although it may appear to be a purely local one. Some years ago Bord na Móna announced a development for the production of sod turf on a large bog outside Ferbane known as Boora bog. The scheme was an extremely ambitious one. It involved an expenditure of over £1,000,000. It involved large scale drainage work and large scale development work over a long period of years and it was allied to the commencement of a power station in Ferbane near Boora bog.
The scheme, as announced, had considerable importance locally. It seemed to provide an answer to a perennial unemployment problem: it seemed to provide continuous employment for over 1,000 workers in that area; it seemed to provide what the area sadly needed, some form of worth while industrial activity, and it also seemed to provide for the town of Ferbane a considerable increase in ordinary trade and business. Now, that scheme, which was announced some years ago, went ahead, and Bord na Móna proceeded to develop this bog. The development meant the assembly near Boora of workers from all parts of the country; it meant the reclamation and drainage of a very large area of bog and the conversion of what was marsh into dry virgin bog. That work went on in recent years until this year, and a sum of at least £500,000 had been spent on the development of Boora.
When that stage had been reached and when the country was entitled to see a return in the production of machine-won turf from the bog, a sudden decision was announced. The decision was this: that Bord na Móna was going to scrap the idea of producing sod turf on Boora bog and change over to milled peat production. To people outside of the turf areas of the country, that might appear not to be of any real significance, because to the ordinary person in Dublin, or in other cities, the production of peat in any form would not seem to present any great dissimilarity, but, in point of fact, the change from sod turf to milled peat production is not merely a change of aim but is actually a complete reversal of the policy.
I understood that milled peat production was a type of peat production which could, with advantage to the nation, be used in the shallower bogs in the West, but it certainly is not the type of production that one would expect to find in the real bog areas of Ferbane or Lanesboro' or other places of that kind. When Bord na Móna announced that this huge bog, which was being developed for sod turf production, was to be turned over to milled peat production, its sudden decision had certain very real effects from the point of view of the taxpayer, of the workers engaged on the development and of the local area affected. I only want to deal with that decision briefly from these three points of view. First of all, from the point of view of the taxpayer. It appears from the Minister's reply yesterday that, so far, £500,000 has been expended by Bord na Móna on Boora bog. I assume that figure does not take into consideration whatever expenditure there has been by the Electricity Supply Board on work it has carried out in the area in connection with the power station, but in regard to that £500,000, the Minister blandly stated yesterday that £150,000 of it could be regarded as non-productive expenditure. Now that is a phrase that might pass, but from the point of view of the taxpayer it means that at least £150,000 has been lost and has been misspent. I am certain that that figure, which is an estimate figure, is perhaps on the small side, but at least that sum has been thrown away by Bord na Móna arising out of this decision in connection with the development of this bog. Some years ago the people of this country were horrified to find that the project at Santry Court, in respect of which a certain amount of development had been carried out, was being suddenly scrapped, because those who initiated it had not taken into consideration certain aspects of the site which they had chosen.
The position in Boora, as I understand it, is this—I hope my information is not correct—that for the last couple of years machines have been engaged in Boora in digging and making huge drains right through the bog, drains that would permit of, and that would be suitable for, sod turf production, but by reason of this decision, to which I have referred, more machines must now come into Boora bog to close in all the drains already made there. Men were employed to open these drains and men must now be employed to close them. Apart altogether from the non-productive expenditure in connection with the development of the scheme, we are going to have the absurd situation of more men being employed to undo the work which Bord na Móna has now decided should never have been commenced. From the point of view of the taxpayer that, in my opinion, raises a very serious question. I would urge on the Minister the necessity for a thorough inquiry into the technical plan that permitted Bord na Móna to embark on a scheme of this kind, which they have now decided should never have been commenced.
Secondly, from the point of view of the workers engaged on the scheme, I know well that there has been, in relation to Boora and to other bogs on which sod turf production has commenced, a labour problem. The labour content of sod turf production is far higher than in the case of milled peat production. From the workers' point of view, I understand that the peak requirements of labour at Boora was something round 1,500 men. I do not think that was ever achieved.
I understand the average was round about 500 or 1,000 men. The change-over to milled peat production calls for a peak employment figure of round 500, which it is hoped may be obtained locally. Now, that raises a question in regard to those men whom I may call the pioneers, the men who were engaged there on all the rough side of turf production development, drainage work, and so on, over recent years. Last week 90 of these men were transferred from the hostel to some other bog. They were transferred as if they were chattels, and there are some hundred of them still left at Boora. They are apparently under transfer at the moment. I suggest to the Minister that, if this decision is to be held to, preference should be given in connection with employment under the milled peat scheme to the men already engaged on this development work at Boora.
Thirdly, the question arises from the local point of view of the loss of trade and the loss of the grand picture that was painted for the people of the Ferbane area as to what this scheme would mean to them. Hostels have been built there and these apparently are to be closed or left derelict, and these is a considerable loss to the area by reason of this sudden change-over to milled peat. Probably the Minister will say in reply to me that there is no good purpose in throwing good money after bad, and that may be so, but I suggest that, in the interests of the people generally, when a question of this kind arises, it should be followed by a very exhaustive inquiry into the entire plan and design which prompted a scheme of this kind. In addition, I think it a pity that more information was not given locally before this decision was announced. It is a pity that some form of conference with the representatives of the workers involved did not take place, and it is a pity that it has become necessary to raise this matter in the Dáil to obtain from the Minister the statement, which comes from Bord na Móna, which he gave the House yesterday. The whole business is a very unhappy one and one which certainly tends to give rise to insecurity and doubt with regard to turf production.
