Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 30 Jul 1953

Vol. 141 No. 7

Committee on Finance. - Vote 50—Industry and Commerce (Resumed).

Mr. Collins

When I moved to report progress on this matter last night the position actually was that a series of interruptions had precluded the Parliamentary Secretary from getting this Supplementary Estimate completed within the time allotted last night. I do not propose at this stage to delay this Supplementary Estimate except to say that we had felt that it was necessary to inquire from the Parliamentary Secretary as to the potential capacity of the board for this scheme.

I will conclude by saying that as far as I am personally concerned I sincerely hope that the money to be invested in this scheme will be well spent and that the experiment will have the success that we would all be desirous of it having, as it might, as aptly described by somebody else, present possibly a revolutionary step in the economy of these aiteanna iargculta.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Government (Mr. Lynch)

I appreciate that some of the points made by the speakers on the Opposition side are well taken and they are entitled to ask the questions that were asked by them. The first point was made by Deputy Sweetman when he inquired as to why it was not the Minister for Agriculture who was responsible for this particular scheme and for introducing the Bill that is now an Act which enabled the scheme to be undertaken. I do not think it matters ultimately what Minister is nominally responsible for the Grass Meal Act as long as we can be assured that there is a good board of directors in charge of it and they will be able to employ competent technicians and efficient machinery and that they are imbued with the proper spirit and the proper approach to the problem.

Mr. S. Collins

Of course we can take it that all the technical resourcesof the Department of Agriculture are at their disposal?

Mr. Lynch

You can take it that the Department of Agriculture is at the disposal of the directors of this company. As well as that I want to refer at this stage to the reference that was made by Deputy Collins to the membership of the board in which he said that only one member of it could be presumed to have some technical skill and that that was a member of the board who is the county engineer for Mayo. I want to say that is quite wrong because there is a member of the board, Mr. Gahan, who is an acknowledged agricultural expert and is attached to Comhlucht Siúicre Éireann, and I am informed that his merit is well recognised by that very progressive company.

Mr. Collins

I do not want to be in any way uncharitable to that person. When I referred to technical skill I was not aware of his merit at that time, and I did not actually know that he is a consultant.

Mr. Lynch

As far as the other members of the board are concerned I do not mind saying of them that I never met one of them until he was appointed, and I met another once, but I am absolutely convinced of their enthusiasm and their capacity for making a success of the work that they have taken in hands.

Deputy Sweetman inquired whether any examination had been made in advance of the protein content of the grass that it is hoped to have produced on this reclaimed bog. As Deputy Dillon pointed out in the course of the passage of the Bill, on its Second Stage, it is impossible to tell what the protein content of any grass is until it is grown, but I believe that having regard to grass grown in similar circumstances in which it is proposed to grow the grass on the bog at Bangor-Erris that the protein content is very high; and having seen the grass grown under similar circumstances on Gowla Bog, where the Sugar Company are carrying out work of a similar nature, I can say for myselfwith my own limited knowledge that I never saw grass growing in such profusion or looking so green. Whether that is any indication or not of the value of growing grass on reclaimed bog I do not know, but to my untrained eye it was a good omen.

The point was made that this scheme should be undertaken not only in Mayo, but in such places as West Cork and in Donegal. First of all, I think everybody appreciates that this is purely an experimental scheme, and on its success will depend what further development of a similar nature will take place in other parts of the country. The primary object is to make a success of the experiment, and to demonstrate the commercial possibilities of successful cultivation of bogland.

Deputy Collins made another point which I thought was worth while looking after and which, I think, I can meet not only in theory but on practical results achieved at Gowla. First of all he accused me of what he described as precocious provocativeness, whatever he intended to convey. Whether I was guilty of what he thinks I was I do not know, but in any case to meet the point he makes——

Mr. Collins

That is your delightful tantalising innocence.

Mr. Lynch

To meet the point he makes as regards the desirability of commencing operations in September, as I indicated they probably would be commenced then, the Deputy knows and the House knows that at Gowla, where the Sugar Company took over something like 2,500 acres of bogland— the wettest bogland in Ireland I believe —in 1951, they commenced to drain 1,500 acres of it. They segregated it into two parts and on the first part they started drainage in August, 1951, and on the second part in September, 1951. To say that the results they achieved were successful, in my opinion, would be an understatement. I saw the place myself and I can truthfully describe what I saw as not only successful but inspiring. Therefore, having regard to the calibre of the men who form the board, having regard tothe technical advice which is available to them, and having regard to the results that have been achieved elsewhere, I have every hope and confidence that this scheme will be the success that every Deputy desires it to be.

Estimate agreed to and reported.

The Dáil went into Committee on Finance and resumed consideration of the Estimates for the Public Services