§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish in the Official Report the current sources of supply of coal to Northern Ireland, the annual amount for each source and details of any contract arrangements under which such coal is supplied.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe normal source of supply is the National Coal Board, which supplied a total of 1.5 million tonnes of coal to Northern Ireland in 1978, and 0.77 million tonnes in the first six months of 1979.
Coal for domestic use is sold by the National Coal Board to the Northern Ireland importers under the board's standard conditions of sale. Industrial coal is provided under separate contracts with individual merchants while coal for electricity generation is supplied under direct contract between the National Coal Board and the Northern Ireland Electricity Service.
Due to the depletion of stocks resulting from the exceptionally hard winter of 1978–79, and following discussions with the National Coal Board, the Northern Ireland merchants have this year entered into agreements for the importation of up to 75,000 tonnes of coal from the United State of America in order to help maintain supply for the coming winter.