asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy the arrangements being made to ensure adequate supplies of cental heating oil for consumers for the winter and if it is proposed to introduce rationing or any other emergency measure.

Appropriate arrangements in regard to the supply of central heating oil for domestic and other consumers for the coming winter are being considered but I am not yet in a position to indicate precisely what these arrangements will be.

An announcement in the matter will be made as soon as possible. At this stage I can say that, since a short-fall in the overall supply is anticipated, the adoption of some allocation procedures appears to be inevitable and it is for that reason that I have been urging consumers to adopt alternative heating arrangements.

Can the Minister confirm that the printing of ration books has been going on for a number of weeks?

It has not.

Is the Minister aware that unless he makes up his mind quickly, because of the personnel available, the companies will be unable to deliver domestic oil in time for the winter?

The position is being examined very thoroughly at the moment in consultation with the companies. There has to be very full consultation with the oil companies because we are dependent to a great extent on their projection over the winter months. My present intention is to make the announcement about 28 or 29 July and to allow deliveries to commence on 1 August. In the normal way I would not have wished deliveries to commence as quickly as I August, but, because of the logistics of the situation, it is necessary that they begin that early. If they did not begin until October there would be definite cases of hardship if people did not get their deliveries until December when the weather would be very cold.

In view of the apparently inevitable shortage which we are about to experience, could the Minister elaborate on the present position with regard to the storage of this oil in the ports, because there is a belief that an inordinate amount of oil is stored?

That seems to be a separate question, but the Deputy's speculation is not right. There is not an inordinate amount. Stocks of gas-diesel oil a week or two ago were about two-thirds of the corresponding figure for last year. I do not have this week's figure yet but I believe it is a little higher. The whole situation could be changed drastically in a matter of days by virtue of the fact that in the past 48 hours no oil products of any kind have come into Dublin port, the main port of entry.

6.