Committee Reports > List of Committees > Dáil > 1950 > Committee of Public Accounts > Interim and Final Report - Appropriation Accounts 1947 - 1948

APPENDIX XX.

ARMY TURF SUPPLIES

The Secretary,

Committee of Public Accounts.

1. In the course of my examination before the Committee on the 25th January, certain matters were raised arising out of the evidence given by the Accounting Officer for the Vote for Defence in connection with paragraph 77 of the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General on the Appropriation Accounts, 1947-48. I think it right to submit, for the information of the Committee, the following observations concerning the matter of the supply of turf to meet the requirements of the Army in 1947-48.

2. I should like, in the first place, to recall the circumstances relating to fuel supplies in 1946-47. Abnormally bad weather conditions prevailed practically throughout the second half of 1946, and continued to the end of the Winter of 1946-47. (The Committee will recollect the organisation which had to be set up to save the 1946 harvest). Hundreds of thousands of tons of turf remained unsaved on the bogs and the reserves in the “dumps” under the control of Fuel Importers Ltd. had to meet the domestic rations without the normal replenishment. Furthermore, our weekly coal imports which had been of the order of 25,000 tons fell steadily from early November, 1946, until by mid-February, 1947, the figure had fallen below 10,000 tons and then practically ceased for some ten weeks when weather conditions of that Winter were at their worst.

3. The fuel crisis was the subject of a considerable amount of Press publicity in January and February, 1947. On the 24th February the Minister for Industry and Commerce dealt with the matter in a radio talk. He spoke of the long-term problem of securing fuel for the Winter of 1947-48 and advised everybody, and large-scale consumers in particular, to arrange for their own production; and he emphasised that no guarantee could be given that supplies would be provided for such consumers from the National Pool, which would be reserved for household needs.

4. In March, 1947, the Minister for Industry and Commerce went to London and discussed with the British Minister for Fuel and Power the possibility of an improvement in the quantity and/or quality of British coal supplies; but he was unable to get any assurance whatever of such an improvement within the foreseeable future.

5. At the request of the Department of Defence the question of fuel supplies for the Army for 1947-48 was discussed between representatives of that Department and of the Department of Industry and Commerce on 2nd April, 1947. It was emphasised by the Department of Industry and Commerce that if the Army wanted to secure their supplies for the following Winter they would have to make their own arrangements.

6. During the years 1941 to 1945 inclusive the Army had been producing their own turf but they had abandoned this practice in 1946. A serious problem was presented to them, therefore, as they had returned the bogs they had acquired sold the equipment, and dismantled the accommodation. Moreover, the army was under strength and the necessary labour could not be provided. In a minute dated the 3rd May, 1947, it was confirmed to the Department of Defence that, having regard to the serious fuel position, it would be quite impossible to meet their requirements from the National Pool and they were advised to arrange for production of their own turf in such a way as not to interfere with supplies to the National Pool. In that minute it was suggested that there should be consultation between representatives of the Department of Defence and Bord na Móna as to the area or areas in which the turf could be obtained so as not to interfere with the National supply.

7. A further Conference took place on the 5th May, 1947, between representatives of the Department of Defence, this Department and Bord na Móna when the possible sources of supply were examined. This examination disclosed that the available labour resources in the counties nearer to Dublin were already taxed to the limit by the production programmes which had already been arranged by non-turf area merchants and industrial consumers and which required, and had already been given, the approval of the Department. The tonnage involved in these programmes had risen from the 1946 figure of 140,000 to 210,000 tons while at the same time every possible effort was being made to step-up production by Bord na Móna and the County Surveyors for Fuel Importers, Ltd. In the circumstances, it was evident that no reliable contractor could undertake production on the scale required by the Army, except in some of the western seaboard counties; and in fact the only counties that provided a reasonable prospect of providing the required quantity were Kerry and Galway. The representative of Bord na Móna undertook to assist the Department of Defence in locating suitable agents in these counties who might be employed by the Army and this was arranged.

8. It will therefore be seen that, in the circumstances, there was no real alternative to Kerry and Galway. It will also be appreciated that if supply from the National Pool had been possible, it would have been necessary to replenish the supply from such bogs as Kerry and Galway and the cost would have fallen on the fuel subsidy, so that ultimately the Exchequer would be called upon to bear the expenditure though the incidence would have been on a different Vote.

9. General MacMahon has informed me that this minute correctly represents the position so far as the Department of Defence is concerned.