Vol. 270 No. 8
asked the Minister for Transport and Power if, in view of the fact that County Donegal is not served by either rail or air transport and only to a small extent by sea transport, he will consider making increased quotas of petrol and fuel oils available to oil distributors in the county.
37.
asked the Minister for Transport and Power if he will consider making extra supplies of petrol or diesel oil available to those engaged in County Donegal in the haulage and distribution of (a) farm produce, (b) fish, and (c) turf.
38.
asked the Minister for Transport and Power if he will indicate the steps, if any, he has taken or intends to take to deal with the fuel crisis in County Donegal.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to take Questions Nos. 36, 37 and 38 together.
The current restrictions on deliveries of oil products are based on the normal requirements of all areas and I am satisfied that the Donegal area is suffering no greater hardship than other parts of the country. Accordingly, there would be no justification for making additional supplies available to County Donegal or any other particular county or area.
In making my orders I have been conscious of the need to give priority to certain sectors and accordingly the cut for agriculture, horticulture and commercial fishing has been kept down to 10 per cent of normal requirements. I have also arranged that, because of its importance, the machine turf industry is to receive up to 100 per cent of last year's requirements. Also, recognising that transport is an essential service, I have provided in the recent orders made by me that the restrictions on deliveries of gas diesel oil, kerosene or fuel oil shall not apply to: (i) CIE; (ii) Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company; (iii) plated hauliers; (iv) licensed road passenger services.
I do not think Question No. 38 can be taken with the other questions. While Questions Nos. 36 and 37 deal with fuel oils, Question No. 38 deals with the fuel crisis.
I have answered the question in the first paragraph.
The Minister stated that Donegal was no different from any other county.
No, I did not.
Is he taking account of the fact that there is no railway service in Donegal?
I said I did not see the justification for treating it differently. If, as the Deputy has said, there is no railway in the county, I would point out that these orders are based on a base period 1st October, 1972, to 31st March, 1973. Presumably the use of fuel oil and petrol was proportionately higher in Donegal at that stage than in other parts of the country where there is a railway service. Consequently, their quota this year would be correspondingly higher than in other parts of the country.
That is a very rough rule of thumb.
I did not get clarification of the evident mixup of Question No. 38. In view of the difficulties of transport in Donegal and the fact that other transport companies from outside the county are not inclined to use their petrol and oil supplies to travel to Donegal because of its geographical position, this does not mean there is a quota in Donegal based on the volume of traffic to and from that area.
It does.
The existing supplies in Donegal are not adequate to do the job——
The Deputy is making a statement. He is not putting a question.
There is a restriction on the supply of oil and other fuels but the Deputy is wrong when he says there is not a quota in Donegal for these people. If they were going in there on the base period last year, of course a 90 per cent quota is there for them, if they drew supplies there last year.
It seems to me that the Minister is not answering the question in the manner in which Deputy Cunningham wants it answered. There is no railway service in County Donegal.
Does the Deputy want to ask a question?
Is the Minister aware that road hauliers are reluctant to go into Donegal delivering stuff because they have difficulty in getting supplies to return because of their increased consumption, and they could do more profitable runs to other places where the same consumption of diesel oil would not be required? This lack of railway services calls for special consideration for County Donegal.
I could not agree. If there was a base period last year in which because there is no railway in Donegal there was more use of road services by lorries and cars, then that increased use in Donegal is reflected in this year's quota because there is a percentage base.
If the journey starts from Dublin?
Is the Minister aware that the point I am trying to get across is that even outside users of oil——
Does the Deputy want to ask the Minister a question?
Is the Minister aware that users of oil who have quotas arising out of their supplies last year for going to Donegal can now use these quotas more profitably on shorter runs?
The quota is in Donegal because that is where it was drawn last year. If the haulier filled his lorry in Dublin and went to Donegal and filled up there again that quota is wherever he filled up in Donegal.
The Minister does not see the point.
I see the point very well. It is quite a simple one.
Arising out of the Minister's various replies, could I ask him whether he is aware that the practice today is somewhat different from what it was in normal circumstances? Is he aware that the driver of road transport going from whatever point to a given point and returning, must ensure that he not only takes fuel with him to get him there but that he also has enough fuel with him to take him back and that this is working sadly to the disadvantage of transport to and from Donegal? In addition, will he not concede that having regard to the absence of railways to and from Donegal, while it would have the effect, as he says, of higher quotas as a result of greater usage in the past, the difficulties being encountered as a result of the shortage of fuel and the isolation of the county are aggravated by the fact that because Donegal has no railways cannot, as other counties are doing, divert some of the traffic that heretofore was carried by rail?
I see the point that Deputies are trying to make. If transport going into Donegal on the base period last year was picking up fuel in Donegal for the return journey, that fuel is in Donegal now on a quota basis and should be available for hauliers going from Dublin or Galway or Limerick or anywhere else.
If you want a truck to go to Donegal now the first thing you are asked is: "Will you fill us up when we get there?" In the case of trucks coming from Donegal there is no place here that they can fill up.
I do not agree with the Deputy at all.
That is so.
I have had numerous individual complaints in the past six months about people who were unable to get fuel in parts of the country. I would like Deputies to give me the names of garages in Donegal that need fuel oil to cater for lorries bringing goods in there which cannot get supplies to come out again and I will investigate the matter.
That is better.
It is the same thing. It is exactly the same. Deputies should give me the names of the garages and who their supplier is.
