asked the Minister for Transport and Power if he will consider setting up a fuel authority for the greater Dublin area with powers to co-ordinate the operations of the various energy and fuel producing concerns in that area with a view to offering a better service to consumers and to protect the employment of persons working in those concerns.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dublin Fuel Authority.
15.
The fuel and energy needs of the Dublin area are met partly by the relevant State-sponsored bodies, the ESB and Bord na Móna, and partly by private sector enterprises providing oil, coal, town gas and bottled gas supplies. The State bodies operate in a national context. The private enterprise suppliers include a number of concerns with nationwide services and a number of others whose market is confined to the Dublin area.
I am not aware of any problems that would justify the establishment of a fuel authority with powers over the producing and distributing companies in the Dublin area. Any co-ordination of effort that may be required is best effected by my Department in the context of national energy policy and I do not consider that it would be advantageous to consider the establishment of a Dublin fuel authority with the type of coordinating powers proposed by the Deputy.
Is the Minister aware that in at least one of these concerns large-scale redundancies are threatened? Is there a danger the Minister may leave it too late to take steps to prevent these redundancies? Would he not consider acting now to prevent any redundancy, whether or not on a large scale, and initiating steps to cut out the waste which must exist in a smallish area in which so many concerns are seeking to sell their wares? How serious the situation is will be brought home in the next few months and will the Minister act now before any redundancies start because, after they start, he will find it very hard to stop them?
The Deputy knows it is not the practice to discuss the affairs of particular companies here. He must also be aware that extremely resolute helpful action in this particular context has already been taken. In regard to his broader point about the establishment of a fuel authority for the greater Dublin area, if that argument is good for the greater Dublin area in the context of the relative smallness of that area, then surely the comparable argument would be good for many other conurbations and we would be spawning separate fuel authorities all over the country in a way that would not be conducive to efficiency but would rather be conducive to duplication and inefficiency.
One-third of the people live in Dún Laoghaire.