A Chinn Chomhairle, the members of the Dáil have already in their hands the Statement of Accounts which I have got printed in two parts in the old way in order to show the accounts more clearly—one for the half-year ended 30th June, 1921, and the second for the half-year ended 31st December, 1921. In addition to that I have adopted the usual custom of giving a sketch of the accounts practically up to date. That sketch, of course, could not be ready as soon as these accounts. I will read the auditor's report and make just a few comments on it:
"13 Westmoreland Street,
Dublin,
17th February, 1922.
"To the Members of Dáil Eireann.
"Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to report that I have completed the audit of your books for the two half-years ended 30th June, 1921, and 31st December, 1921, respectively. I send you herewith certified copies of Receipts and Disbursements Accounts for the two half-years. Upon these accounts I have to report as follows:
"Accounts for the Half-Year to 30th June, 1921.
"The Cash Balances on hand at 1st January, 1921, as per audited accounts, were £233,855 4s. 8d. The Receipts for Self-Determination Fund amounted to £25,925 10s. 10d. of which £25,236 11s. 10d., was received from U.S.A. There was received £86,371 1s. 6d. in respect of the Loan, of which £84,614 16s. 6d. was remitted from U.S.A. out of amounts raised there. Interest received and accrued amounted for the half-year to £7,413 9s. 1d. Revenue earned by Departments came to £1,373 4s. 5d. Refunds from Departments out of amounts charged in previous accounts came back: they amounted to £5,169 1s. 2d. There is a further refund of £5,000 from the Department of Home Affairs for the N.E. Counties, which sum is shown as a Disbursement on the other side. An item of Suspense was received amounting to £1,187 2s. 0d. The various items of Receipt, added to the opening balances at 1st July, 1921, make a total of £366,294 13s. 8d.
"The Expenditure for the half-year is shown departmentally, the principal heads of expenditure under each Department being indicated. The total amount of Expenditure for the half-year was £111,269 15s. 8d.
"Including accrued interest to 30th June, 1921, there was a balance of cash on hands of £255,024 18s. 0d., at the end of the half-year.
"Accounts for the Half-Year to 31st December, 1921.
"The account begins with the balance on hand at 1st July, 1921, viz., £255,024 18s. 0d. £6,285 11s. 5d. was received for the Self-Determination Fund, £5,500 being from Australia. £168,702 4s. 2d. was received in respect of the Loan, of which £167,727 0s. 10d. was remitted from U.S.A. £35 was received for the New Loan. Interest received and accrued amounted to £5,608 1s. 5d. The earnings from Departments were £5,392 12s. 8d. Refunds were received in respect of expenditure charged in previous accounts to the extent of £951 12s. 7d., and there was a Suspense receipt of £33. The opening balance of cash in hands at the beginning of the half-year, and the receipts for the half-year, make a total of £442,033 0s. 3d.
"The Total Departmental Expenditure for the half-year came to £202,831 14s. 9d., and the Trustees' Expenses to £255 7s. 4d. There is also charged a sum of £1,341 19s. 5d. which was stolen from the offices on the 14th or 15th December. The Expenditure in the various Departments is shown in detail in the enclosed accounts. Included under the head of Foreign Affairs, Special Expenses, is a payment to a delegate of £200 in respect of a proposed visit to U.S.A. As this visit was not made, I wrote to the delegate to inquire if I might include the £200 as cash unexpended and on hand at 31st December, 1921. In reply I have to-day received a letter stating that there is a sum of £83 18s. 6d. on hands. I have not, however, altered the accounts as regards this item.
"The balance of cash in hands at 31st December, 1921, including accrued interest, amounted to £237,603 18s. 9d. With respect to this sum I have to say that it includes an item of £1,660 7s, 5d., balance of current account with the Sinn Féin Bank, now in liquidation. I have written to the Liquidator for verification, and inquiring as to the prospects of realisation, but up to the date of this report have not heard from him. A sum of £9,033 12s. 7d. is included as being on hands at the London office at the end of the half-year. I have not been able to vouch this sum nor the following items of expenditure made by the London office and included in the accounts: London Office, Local Expenditure, £1,873 13s. 11d.; in respect of Peace Negotiations, £1,050 2s. 7d.; and Special Defence, £4,050 0s. 0d."
Before I proceed with the reading of that report I would like to explain these items. It is simply that at the time of audit they were not vouched. Our representative in London has been written to in regard to the vouchers, and in a very short time, I have no doubt, these vouchers will come along. As regards the item "Special Defence" there is a slight mistake in putting in the amount, as this is an amount paid on behalf of prisoners. £1,000, returnable by the Self-Determination League, and the other amount, £3,050, will be returned for the new half-year's account. Well, the auditor's report proceeds:
"Part also of the Cash Balance is a Deposit Receipt for £7,000 lodged with a Bank to secure an overdraft of a private individual. This lodgment was authorised by the Ministry. On inquiry to-day it is found that the overdraft and the Deposit Receipt are about equal. The Bank, however, holds further securities almost equal in value to the overdraft, so that, for the present at any rate, the contingency of a loss does not arise. With the exceptions just referred to I have satisfied myself as to the correctness of the Cash Balance at the end of the half-year."
It may do no harm to make reference to the £7,000. It was passed by the Dáil Ministry some twelve months ago. It was reported as a special item and private members asked me for particulars of it, which I gave, and these will be available for anybody who requires them. The auditor's report concludes:
"I think it would be well for the Members to take into account the advisability of now dispensing with Bank and other accounts opened in the names of private individuals, and of consolidating the funds of An Dáil in one account. There appears to be no necessity now for these individual accounts, and if they were transferred into the names of official trustees, possible complications would be avoided.
"I am,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Yours faithfully,
D. O'CONNOR."
Well, now, since that was written by the auditor, the Trustees and the Dáil Cabinet met; and I would like this incorporated in the Finance Report: that the Self-Determination account of Dáil Eireann be now closed, and that the amounts received in Australia be included as though they had come to hand before the date of this resolution. Now, in the usual course, or in accordance with the practice that has prevailed, the American accounts are not given out in detail, but I can give the items, and, as on a former occasion, any member who wishes to have a copy of these figures can have it within a reasonable period. Now, the following are the American Accounts of the Dáil for the half-year ended on December 31st:
BALANCE: |
|
June 30th, 1921 |
$2,959,123.69 |
RECEIPTS: |
|
Loan |
$9,121.54 |
Self-Determination Fund |
$2,493.88 |
Refugee Fund |
$117,875.07 |
Interest |
$73,278.19 |
New Loan |
$284,070.00 |
$3,445,962.37 |
|
OUTLAY: |
|
Finance Agent |
$4,506.26 |
Foreign Affairs |
$31,207.72 |
Consulate |
$13,050.97 |
Propaganda |
$2,728.82 |
Loan Expenses |
$30,000.07 |
Defence |
$52,528.93 |
New Loan |
$126,032.36 |
Loss on Realisations |
$1,242.42 |
Remittances Home |
$654,300.00 |
Remittances for Bank |
$400,000.00 |
Balance on Hands |
$2,130,364.82 |
$3,445,962.37 |
And now the usual summary—I refer to the cash summary as at the 31st December last—has been made out in this way. You will see from it that the cash on hands at home was £237,603 18s. 9d. The cash on hands in the U.S.A. was $2,130,364.82 which, at the rate of exchange—4.40—amounted to £484,174 0s. 0d. The total of those two amounts was £721,777 18s. 9d. The following reserves had to be stipulated for: General, $500,000; Bank, $100,000; and Sundries, $250,000. That totalled $850,000, which at the 4.40 rate of exchange came to £193,181 16s. 4d. That amount deducted from £721,777 18s. 9d. left the net balance available at £528,596 2s. 5d. In addition to all that I have made out a summary bringing the position up to date as to the 18th February, and I can put it briefly before you in this way: The Home Balance on the 31st December, 1921, was £237,603 18s. 9d. The Receipts since included: Cash recovered from the English, £22,250 8s. 10d.; Loan, et cetera, £582 0s. 4d.; Revenue, £1,026 11s. 1d., and Refunds, £495 2s. 6d. Those four amounts total £24,354 2s. 9d. That, added to the Home Balance, makes £261,958 1s. 6d. The principal item of the receipts is the money that was stolen from us by the English and returned. The outlay for the seven weeks comes to £51,393 10s. 2d., leaving a balance of £210,564 11s. 4d. Now, for the United States, the cash on hands at 31st January, 1922, per the United States accounts was $2,461,589.50 dollars which, at 4.40 rate of exchange was £559,452 3s. 2d. That indicates a total of £770,016 14s. 6d., which, less reserves amounting to $850,000 or £193,181 16s. 4d., left £576,834 18s. 2d. net balance available. That was our net balance on February 18th last—the absolute net cash balance without any consideration for assets. I just want to make one or two brief remarks in regard to the assets. I have tried to discern between what are good and bad and doubtful. Among the assets is an item of £200 concerning the Rathmines Comhairle Ceanntair. Then, in regard to Fishery Societies, there is an amount of £19,630 which I have classified as bad or doubtful. Under the scheme of helping County Councils is an amount of £16,800. Then there is a special deposit which is really not a loan—only a safeguarding of money; that comes to £7,700. I do not know if I have properly classified the following item as bad or doubtful. It is an account which the Ministry passed as expenses in connection with the Manchester trials, which is recoverable from the Irish Self-Determination League. The amount is £2,500. Promises on loan, £7,610, are all good. Land Bank Capital £200,000 is good. The next thing is Kilcunny Farm, £6,575. Then there have been returns since these accounts were made out, as follows: Peace Negotiations, £13 16s. 9d.; Foreign Affairs, £635; Advances, including sub-commission, £5,361; Roscommon County Council, £2,500. Now, there were three amounts on hand in connection with the sub-commission accounts as follows: £240; £342 10s.; and £316 10s. The reason I did not deduct these from the total advances is I did not know how the sub-commission and others stood at the time. The following amounts have been refunded from the Provisional Government: Salaries, £65 18s. 7d., and over £60 of Ministerial salaries have been refunded. Now, there may be just one or two questions coming out of these. These accounts differ from the others in only one respect. In all others we tried to draw the dividing line between the Self-Determination Fund Account, as we called it on the basis passed in An Dáil in June 1920 Session, and the Loan Account. It has not been possible to do that, and the expenditure has become so complex I doubt in an analysis if the Self-Determination Fund would really bear the burden of the charges placed on it if I rigidly adhere to the formula passed in June 1920. It would be possible to do it, but it would entail considerable labour, and it would not be worked down to the last pound note, either. The sum of £23,000 received from the United States on 12th January is included as having been received here prior to the 31st December. This was done so that the accounts in the United States would agree with the accounts at home on the 31st December. There is another point. In Rome there was a small amount of funds lying to the credit of our representative there, and the Bank that it happened to be in has closed down temporarily under an order of the Italian Government under a moratorium. The amount is £400. That will right itself when the moratorium is removed. The point I want to draw attention to is the balance that has been paid to the County Councils. It is £14,300. That is a matter I did not mention. I do not know should we proceed at once, in view of the changed circumstances, for the recovery of the money from the County Councils. I have no doubt when the County Councils find themselves in possession of the new funds they will return what has been loaned without anybody asking it.