I would ask the Minister to see that no time will be taken up in preparing schemes for dealing with the land problem that he speaks about, because when the money has been passed by the Dáil we may be met with the statement that it will take a certain amount of time to prepare schemes to deal with land problems. I think the Minister should guard against that. The amount of destitution prevalent throughout the country, because of unemployment, is very acute at the present moment, and I think that the Minister ought to see that this relief work is started as soon as possible, and that it should not be held up by the preparation of schemes. I would suggest to the Minister that he should give employment in the rural districts and in the small towns, in the rural districts especially which run along the edges of the bogs where the people are actually starving because of the loss of the turf during the past season.
I have had numerous letters from my constituents stating that they have lost all their crops. The crops were destroyed and they could not save any of the turf. Hitherto they made their living by cutting and saving the turf and then selling it. They were not able to save the turf during the last season owing to the terrible weather that prevailed, and the result is that they are now in a state of the most utter destitution. I think if the Minister were to allocate this money for the improvement of second-class roads in the districts that I am referring to, it would mean a great lot to the people who live in these districts. I do not think there is any work that we could embark on that would give relief so quickly as work on the roads, and I would strongly suggest to the Minister that he should take that point into consideration. If the money is to be spent on land problems great delay may be occasioned, because you are likely to be met by engineers who will tell you that levels must be taken here, and that if water goes into a river at a certain point the consequences will be very serious. That kind of thing would hold up the giving of employment, and hence I suggest to the Minister the desirability of starting relief work on the roads.