I move the Second Reading of this Bill. Its origin lies in the friendly challenge uttered by the Minister for Local Government in December last. I had put down certain amendments to the Local Government Bill imposing on local authorities the duty of providing allotments for the growth of vegetables. The Minister explained that in his judgment it was not fitting to place such an obligation on local authorities in a Local Government Bill which had mainly to do with administration, and that that was a matter rather for the Minister for Lands and Agriculture than for him. He promised to consider the matter with the Minister for Lands and Agriculture and see what could be done. Then he said:—"Mr. Johnson says he has no other way of making the feelings of the people he represents known except by inserting this amendment in the Bill, but I think that the Deputy and his party adopted a very effective way of making known their attitude with regard to another matter. They introduced a Railway Bill which met with considerable approval in the Dáil. I do not know but that they will be able to introduce a measure of this kind also."
The present Bill is a response to that friendly challenge. There is no dispute, speaking generally, about the value of allotments, or plots as they have come to be called. I think it is generally accepted that the movement for the provision of allotments, for town workers particularly, has been beneficial in every possible way. It gives healthful recreation, and helpful labour of a kind which is a change from the ordinary wage-earning labour of the occupier of the plot. It is educative, and it is economical in as much as it helps to provide a variety of fresh vegetable food of guaranteed quality for a family.
One might deal with the movement for allotments by touching upon the history of the practice of allocating small plots to town workers and to country workers. Going a considerable distance into the last century, mainly in England and Scotland, but speaking generally, from the year 1907—I think after the passing of the Small Holdings and Allotment Act in Great Britain, it was mainly a rural movement confined to the villagers or the inhabitants of the very small towns. It was not until the war that the movement became an urban movement to so great an extent that it has. I find that in 1909 there were in England and Wales 58,000 individuals who had allotments provided for them by the local authorities, but by 1920 the number had increased to 580,000. Speaking generally, it has become more an urban than a rural movement. The primary purpose of the plots is to provide vegetables for the family of the plotholders. It is interesting and very valuable to remember that the greater number of plot-holders had no experience whatever when they began to work on the land. I am informed that not less than 50 per cent. of the plotholders in Dublin had no knowledge whatever of work on land, or of growing crops of any kind. When they began with the plot holding it was to them a matter of doubt whether the potatoes grew like apples on the trees, or that carrots had roots like cucumbers. That was the state of mind of very many of these plotholders with regard to the growth of food. Nevertheless, the fact is proved that the urban worker has become in most cases more successful than the country-bred plotholder. That is true not only of Dublin but of most of the towns of England and Scotland. That, I think, is partly to be accounted for by the fact that the town man has developed a variety of taste in vegetables, and that he is not, as a plotholder, confined to the growth of potatoes and cabbage. During the war time I understand certain prizes were given for the best cared for and the best tilled plots in Dublin district with the best variety and quality of vegetables, and in the second season an absolute novice became the first prize winner. That is a very interesting consideration, and will show that there is a possibility in this movement of uniting the interests of the townsman with that of the country man, and bringing the townsman to understand some of the difficulties, problems and risks that the farmer has to meet. It will also, perhaps, have the contra effect of inducing the agriculturists-perhaps one might say, more particularly, the country allotment holder, the labourer's cottage holder, who has his acre—to do more intensive tillage and grow more of his own food than he has hitherto done.
I would also ask the Dáil to recognise that there has been a very valuable economic consideration to many men who have been unemployed during this last year or two in having had at hand a plot which they had learned to utilise to its fullest advantage. In one case a man who has had long unemployment and a large family informs me that out of his own plot and that of his son they have been able to maintain the family from one year to another entirely in vegetable food. Had they not had such a stand-by they do not know how they could have gone through the last winter.
It is not only the men who are convenient to plots that have been induced to take this great interest in the movement. Many cases could be cited in this city where men constantly travelled two and three miles on bicycles for the whole period of the growing season, attending their plots after their work, and sometimes in the morning before they begin work. Long travel of the kind indicates that there is a real enthusiasm among many people for this plot-holding movement and that enthusiasm has its reactions in a very valuable acquisition of knowledge—patience as the farmers will tell us—and social and educative values. The plot-holders, though there are still 1,000 of them in Dublin and vicinity—that being a decline from the high peak of 3,000 during the war—have much to complain about inasmuch as they are not any way secure. When they have put their seed in the ground and used all their labour, they do not know how soon they may be evicted or deprived of their holding. That is the main explanation for the decline from 3,000 to 1,000 plots in and around Dublin. Some of these sites have been taken from them, shall I say, on the plea that they were wanted for building purposes. A year or two have elapsed from the time the plots were re-occupied, and yet no building has been undertaken. That is one of the grievances that this Bill is intended to remedy.
I do not think it worth while, at this stage at any rate, unless one is challenged on the matter, to go into any explanation of or any justification for the decline in plot-holding. I will say, however, that in my judgement, from the information supplied to me, the men who have maintained their plots are to be congratulated on having had the perseverance and persistence, and that it is not blameworthy upon those others, many of whom have been obliged to give up their plot-holding because of the insecurity, because of the fact in many cases that the fields in which they were working have been taken from them for a variety of reasons.
I may say that this Bill contains nothing but what has been in operation in either Ireland, England or Scotland, or is contemplated in reports of the Departmental Committee which inquired into the allotments movement in Scotland. If any Deputy has any doubt about the moderate character of the Bill, that statement ought to remove such doubt. In the main, the Bill desires to give moderate security of tenure to the plot-holder, to provide compensation for the value of the growing crops, in case he is obliged to leave the plot during the growing season, to impose an obligation upon the local authorities to provide plots where they can be obtained, and where there is a desire to enter heartily into the movement for the development of plot-holding.
Part I. of the Bill indicates that there is to be recognition on the part of the local authorities of the existence of plot-holders, or those who desire to be plot-holders, and responsibility for providing land for cultivation in this manner. I would point out that if six registered electors or rated occupiers notify the local authority that there is a demand for allotments, then the local authority shall take such representation into consideration. The local authority shall make inquiries, or if they are otherwise of the opinion that there is a demand for allotments by qualified applicants, then they shall acquire any suitable land which may be available, within or without their area, adequate to provide a sufficient number of allotments. The local authority shall be satisfied that there is a demand for allotments by qualified applicants, and Section 8 sets it forth that rules may be made, subject to the sanction of the Minister, defining the qualifications of the persons eligible to be holders of allotments. Suitable land can be seen to be land which can be obtained, the price of which would be covered by the amount which can be reasonably expected to be paid over in annual payments by the plot-holders. The duties of the councils shall be, in the case of county areas, to provide plots of half an acre in extent, or in the case of borough councils or urban councils containing a population over 7,000, one-eighth of an acre in extent. There is nothing to prevent either the borough council or the county council going beyond that if they are able, and consider it wise to do so. It shall be the duty of the councils to provide such allotments within the provisions of the Bill. It has been found, so far as spare time occupation is contemplated, in respect of the town or city allotment, that one-eighth of an acre is the standard, and is usually about sufficient to allow a man to cultivate it with care, and give it proper attention. Beyond that, some may be able to do better than others, but, speaking generally, one-eighth of an acre has been found a reasonable standard for a plot. In the country other conditions will be applicable, and probably the plot would not be cultivated wholly as a garden. A larger area is, therefore, provided for. Section 7 provides that the Council may enter into agreements with a number of persons working as an association, or working co-operatively, and may let a field to such a body. It contemplates the existence of such associations. Another section provides that an association of plot-holders or allotment-holders should be consulted in regard to certain representations that I will come to in a moment.
As I said, it is intended to establish this allotments movement on a substantial foundation, to give it recognition and, where there are set up allotment committees or organisations of plot-holders or allotment-holders the local council shall take such an association into consideration. It is provided that a borough council, or an urban district council with a population of 7,000 or over shall establish an allotments committee, and the general supervision of the allotments shall devolve upon that committee, subject to the usual supervision of the council itself. The allotments committee shall contain, to the extent of one-third of its number, persons experienced in the management and cultivation of allotments, representative of the holders of, or applicants for, allotments. The allotments movement has been organised in Ireland. It is well organised in Dublin city, where the greatest number of allotments exist. There are local associations in different parts of the country and there is a general understanding as to the purposes and desires of this movement. I think it is well that if such a committee is to be set up by a local authority persons actively and keenly interested should receive certain recognition and consultation.
Part II. of the Bill is one of the utmost importance to many parts of the country. It is rather an extension of allotments proper and it provides that the same consideration, powers and responsibilities that are sought to be provided for in respect of allotments shall also apply in respect of common pasture. I want to emphasise this point that when we speak in the Bill of common pasture, we are thinking entirely of pasture for milk production, grazing for milch cattle and goats for domestic needs and not for the grazing of stock for sale in the market. I understand that thought has been raised, in one or two quarters as somewhat objectionable, because it has been stated that in certain counties persons obtained land under public authorities intended for pasture originally for cows, but which was used by Tom, Dick and Harry on behalf of wealthier neighbours for the purpose of grazing stock for sale in the market. The whole object of the Bill is to provide in one case food, and in the other case milk, for consumption primarily by the family of the occupier. Here and there occasionally there will be a surplus of vegetables of one kind or another, but the primary purpose is to provide food for the family. We have defined a qualified person as being a person who is prepared to cultivate an allotment by the labour of himself and members of his own family, and who is not already in possession of sufficient land to enable him to provide vegetables for his own household. The provisions regarding common pastures are subject to modification to meet the special needs of pasture but, in the main, the purpose is the same, to provide milk for the family of the occupier.
It is intended that the powers given to the Department of Agriculture in Ireland during the war shall be maintained, with modifications. It is intended that a local authority may acquire land for the purposes of the Bill either by purchase by agreement, by compulsory acquisition, or by purchase from the Land Commission under the Land Act of 1923, or by purchase from the Land Commission by a local authority as trustee in accordance with Section 4 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, and Sections 31 and 69 of the Land Act, 1923. It is not intended specifically to guard against the taking from a public utility undertaking, corporation or otherwise, of land which is wanted for public works. It is specifically provided that land which is required for housing should be given over to housing, that housing should have precedence, even in the case of land, which is at present under allotments, or may have been at any time under allotments, but is required for housing, subject to three months' notice and subject to compensation for the value of the growing crops. There is also a provision for the local authority to enter upon what is known as vacant land, that is to say, land which is not the subject of rateable occupation. It is known, of course, that much land which in the early part of the war period was derelict and useless was entered upon and made to blossom as the rose in a way that was nothing short of miraculous. Vacant lands are still lying in some parts, unoccupied, unused, useless to anybody, and not of any value to the ratepayers as rate-producing land. It is provided that vacant land may be entered upon by the local authority, but that such occupation should be terminated on due notice.
What may be said, from the point of view of the allotment-holder, to be the most important provision of the Bill and the factor which will determine whether the allotment movement is to grow or not is in Part IV, which provides that the allotment-holding shall not be terminable except by six months' notice, ending on the 1st May or the 1st November, that is, the 31st October, or if the land is required for building or industrial purposes on three months' notice, or if required by any corporation or public company for purposes other than agriculture, three months' notice, except in cases of emergency. But when the holding is terminated, or is sought to be terminated, for the ostensible reason that it is required for building, the local authority will have a right to be satisfied that the work, either preparatory to the building, or the building proper, will be ready for beginning at the time of the termination of the holding. There have been not a few instances where men have been deprived of their plots for the alleged reason that it was required for building purposes, and quite a considerable time—years in one or two cases—have elapsed, but the building has not yet been begun. We think that it is quite undesirable that men should be deprived of the opportunity of utilising this land for healthful, valuable work on the plea that it was required for more valuable work, but the more valuable work is not taken in hand, and the less valuable work is altogether denied, so that provision is made in the Bill that the local authority shall be satisfied that the work will be commenced on the termination of the holding.
I have already said that there is a provision for compensation on quitting the allotment, compensation to this extent, that where men have put in seed and manure they shall not be evicted, if I may use the word, between the 1st May and the 1st November, without compensation for the value of that seed and manure-the growing crops. That is surely a reasonable proposition, but, unfortunately, many men have been made ill-tempered, to say the least, and have become very resentful by virtue of the fact that they have been driven off their plots, have been forced to take everything out of the ground within a very few days, and have lost any value to which their labour has entitled them.
These are, speaking sketchily, the main provisions of the Bill, and I think, apart from possible faults in drafting, that it should meet with the general approval of the House, and should at least be given the sanction of a Second Reading. I hope that if the Bill, or any Bill containing similar provisions, becomes law, that it will have the effect of placing this allotments movement on a firm and secure foundation, that it will become very much more popular than it has been hitherto, that it will become general throughout the country, not only in the cities and towns, but in country places also. The cost to the country will be very small indeed. There is no intention whatever that it will become a charge upon the rates. As a matter of fact it is specifically provided that the councils shall charge such a sum for the use of the plots as would cover their expenditure for the purchase of the land. We are not asking for a subsidy; we are asking for an opportunity to encourage a most healthful, beneficent, educative movement that will increase public health, increase the food supply, increase the knowledge of the growth of things, increase the practice of cooperative effort, and engender civic pride. I think that we might look forward to the development of this movement and, concurrently, a very rapid development of the movement for school gardens in all parts of the country, linking thereby the children at school with the efforts of their parents at home, and inducing also the education authority, whether the Department of Agriculture or the Minister for Education, to put into the field a considerable number of expert horticultural instructors who would help the school-garden movement, help the plot-holding movement, and by these varied means generally promote a very healthful, beneficent change in the face of the country. I believe that it would not only be a change from the point of view of food production but that the influence would go out and stimulate agriculture indirectly, that is, horticulture in association with agriculture; would induce the farmer as well as the farm labourer to grow more food, and food of a greater variety for his own use, that we would not always be thinking of potatoes and cabbage but of the very much more varied and perhaps more healthful classes of vegetables that are included in the region of horticulture. Throughout England and Scotland, and to a very much greater extent on the Continent, I am informed by those who have recently observed it, this allotments movement has been taken up with great avidity. It will be taken up here if it is encouraged. Certain discouragements have been general enough in this country and in England. These discouragements have been removed, but I would like to see an active, positive effort towards the forwarding of this movement of plot-holding made here in Ireland.
