I move:—
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Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £21,196 chun slánuithe na suime is gá chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1926, chun Tuarastail agus Costaisí eile Coimisiún Sealadach, Coistí agus Fiosrúchán Speisialta. |
That a sum not exceeding £21,196 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1926, for the Salaries and other Expenses of Temporary Commissions, Committees, and Special Inquiries. |
This is a very miscellaneous type of Vote. In part 3 of the Vote there are fairly full particulars. There is, first of all, the Board of Assessors under the Military Service Pensions Act. They have an enormous number of claims to deal with. A great many of these will not be substantiated, but they will require investigation, and I believe that the work of that board will continue for a considerable time. The chairman of the board is a district justice, and there are two other members. I believe that a most careful investigation of claims is being carried out. Not only is documentary evidence required, but attendance in person is necessary, and cross-examination is resorted to. Every effort is being made to see that people entitled to the pension will get it, and that those disentitled will not get it.
Then we have the Boundary Commission, which is set out very fully. The solicitor employed in preparing the case and generally supervising every activity in connection with the Commission for the Government will be paid his professional costs for the work as taxed by the Attorney-General. The members of the staff travel to the various districts, assist people to put their evidence into order, see that all aspects of the case are fully represented, and that witnesses are procured to help the various considerations that should be brought forward. As this is an international Commission, it has been arranged by the British Government that one-half of the estimated cost of the Commission should be defrayed by us. This is the best estimate that we could get after an exchange of letters with the British Treasury. It may be too much or it may be too little. It is very much an open estimate.
The Central Savings Committee is a body which has really done very useful work, and which, I think, will result in a very substantial amount of money coming into the Exchequer annually through the sale of Savings Certificates. For a considerable period after the army trouble of March, 1924, the receipts from Savings Certificates fell off very much, and, in fact, went down for a long time to a net amount of not more than £3,000 or £4,000 per week. But in recent months they have gone up very substantially. In six weeks of the present year they have amounted to some £50,000 or £60,000 more than the corresponding six weeks of the past year.
The total amount invested in Savings Certificates up to 30th April last was £1,341,463. A very big amount came from Dublin—£348,654, or £731 per thousand of the population. In Cork, the amount was £219,050, or £559 per thousand of the population. That went down in a county like Offaly to £12,726, or £224 per head of the population. It is very satisfactory also to note that in recent months not only has the sale of Savings Certificates gone up very substantially, returning to something approaching the figure that it was before March of last year, but that the net amount got through the Post Office Savings Bank has also gone up. In the case of the Post Office Savings Bank, there are very substantial sums being withdrawn week by week. But every week the net amount of deposits has increased since the Post Office Savings Bank was opened. In the last few months there was a substantial net increase—a very substantial increase. After the army trouble the amount went down to a few hundred pounds in some weeks, but we were never on the wrong side. The propaganda of the Savings Committee will, we believe, in the course of the coming year, lead to very substantial purchase of Savings Certificates. That, although not the cheapest form of borrowing, is one of the most desirable forms of borrowing. We pay 5¼ per cent. free of income tax on Savings Certificates, but they are spread out, and I think not more than £500 worth may be purchased by any individual. That means that State liabilities are spread over a large number of people and that has an influence on stability, and it has also an influence on the possibilities of industry. It is desirable that considerable numbers of people should be encouraged to have the foresight to amass and to put by in some remunerative way certain amounts of capital.
The next sub-head deals with the Civil Service (Compensation) Committee. The work of that Committee was interrupted by the resignation of Mr. Justice Wylie, who had done a great amount of work for us, over a considerable period, and who found that he was not able to continue it. A successor would probably have been appointed by him but for the fact that certain appeals were brought in the courts. The view that we had held that the grant of pensions was in the discretion of the Minister for Finance, was challenged. The whole committee scheme rested on the basis that the giving of pensions was within the discretion of the Minister for Finance, but as these were Treaty pensions—pensions which might be the subject of diplomatic negotiations and representations—we all along felt that the only satisfactory way of dealing with them was to have a committee, with a judicial chairman, to advise the Minister for Finance and on whose recommendations the Minister for Finance would act. Our view of the rights of civil servants has been upheld by the Supreme Court. It has decided that pensions are a matter of discretion with the Minister for Finance, subject to any legislation we have. We still feel that the only satisfactory way of dealing with them is to have this committee, on which the Finance Department is represented and on which the staffs are represented, with a judicial chairman. I have already taken certain steps and I hope that very shortly we will be able to announce the appointment of a judge as a member of the Committee. Deputies should know that pressure of work in the courts, to which any judge must, in the first instance, attend, is very heavy and that, in fact, no judge can do this work except during his vacation and at the sacrifice of his own leisure.
