I move:
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £10 be granted to defray the charge that will come in course of payment, during the year ending 31st March, 1962, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Local Government, including Grants to Local Authorities, Grants and other Expenses in connection with Housing, and Miscellaneous Grants.
The purpose of the Supplementary Estimate is to enable grants to be made by my Department towards the cost of works of public amenity which will help to improve the recreational and visual amenities of towns, villages and countryside.
The House will note that it is proposed to amend Subhead K of the Vote for Local Government for the current year, which provides for grants for the acquisition, clearance and improvement of derelict sites. The amendment will enable grants to be paid from this subhead for works of public amenity as well as for the clearance of derelict sites.
The reason for the proposed amendment is that it was ascertained in the course of administering derelict site grants under Subhead K that certain desirable works proposed would not qualify for assistance, or would qualify only for very limited assistance, because the site was not derelict or was only partially derelict. Although the broadest possible definition applies to the derelict sites scheme, it does not include many sites which it is desirable to have developed or improved as public amenities. Furthermore, the restriction of grants to work on derelict sites tends to narrow unduly the scope of any improvements which are carried out with the aid of such grants.
This situation underlined the fact that there is a gap in the existing arrangements for affording financial assistance to local authorities and other bodies concerned with the provision of public amenities. Allocations from the Employment and Emergency Schemes Vote are related to unemployment returns. The funds available are adequate to enable a regular programme of amenity works to be undertaken in the larger urban centres. In other areas, even where an allocation was available, the amount of amenity development which could be carried out was small. In consequence, Bord Fáilte Éireann found it necessary, in order to provide amenities and facilities for tourists, to promote such works throughout the country and to offer financial assistance towards defraying the cost. I understand that the Board's activities in this field are limited because of more urgent demands on their funds but in any event their criterion is, naturally, the tourist value of the schemes. In most areas, if the needs of our own people are to be catered for, some further provision must be made. There is a growing awareness throughout the country of need for public amenities and of their value to the community.
The proposed amendment of Subhead K will have the advantage that any payments arising in the current year can be met from savings on the subhead. The total of the grants allocated to date in the current year for derelict site works is approximately £16,000 but it appears that requisitions for payment of grants are likely to be slower than anticipated. A number of proposals have already been received from local authorities for consideration in connection with the new grants scheme and I am informed that many more are in course of preparation locally. As there is a reasonable prospect that savings on the subhead will suffice to cover any payments in the current year on foot of amenity grants, the present Supplementary Estimate is limited to a token sum of £10.
As indicated in the Supplementary Estimate the grants will be payable to local authorities, local development associations and other bodies. The rate of grant will be 50% of the approved cost of the work. No grant will be payable where the approved cost of the work is less than £100. Eligible works will include the provision and development of parks, open spaces, playing fields, riverside walks, beach development works, means of access, boating slipways, opening up of views and prospects, landscaping of historic buildings, ornamental tree planting, seating and shelters, car parks in scenic areas, public caravan parks, provision of local museums and protection of places and objects of interest. I might also mention that public amenity works proposed by winners of Tidy Towns Competition Awards will be considered for amenity grants.
Local development associations and other such bodies will forward their proposals to the local authorities through whom applications for grants must be made. If the proposals are acceptable, the local authority will submit the application to my Department. It will be a condition of the grant that the amenity being provided will be available for the use or benefit of the public generally. Maintenance of the completed works will be the responsibility of the applicant body or of the local authority and formal undertakings may be required from local development associations or other bodies in this regard.
It is my intention that the programme for clearance and improvement of derelict sites should be given priority but that where there are no such sites qualifying for grants or where they do not admit of satisfactory development by themselves, other positive schemes for improving amenities should be encouraged. I have asked local authorities to give advice and technical assistance, where necessary, to other bodies putting forward proposals and I hope that all concerned will adopt an imaginative and constructive approach to the question of local amenities. With this object in view, the grants scheme has been drawn as widely as possible.