In connection with the Schedule, Deputy Johnson looked for some explanation to justify the continuance of the Local Government (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1916. The Minister for Finance agreed to have some statement made that would explain the necessity for the continuance of this particular measure. At the outset I would like to say that equally with Deputy Johnson I suffer as a result of not having the reports that he referred to on that particular occasion, as such reports would be of great help to me in administering the Department. I am not in any way anxious to withhold information from Deputies, but these reports have not been forthcoming. It is just as well for Deputies to recollect that Local Government for the last five or six years has been in a state bordering on chaos. We had for a considerable period two authorities struggling for supremacy in the control of Local Government, and, as a result of their opposition, officials throughout the country at times found it very difficult to know what Government to recognise and what duties to carry out and what duties not to carry out. That applied to the officials of the local authorities, including rate collectors and other important officers. I might also mention that the Custom House was burned in the campaign during the hostilities with the British forces, and as a result of that our records were destroyed during the struggle. During the struggle with the Crown Forces and during the recent domestic disturbances here an exceptional burden was thrown on practically every section of my Department. I might refer to the roads. These were picked out for particular attack.
We also carried through an amalgamation scheme which has considerably upset the administration of the Poor Law in the country. The Local Government Act, by the abolition of the rural councils, has put considerable additional work upon my Department Section 13 of the Local Government (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1916, which we are continuing, deals mainly with the publication of Local Taxation Returns and Annual Reports of the Department. It removes the obligation to publish abstracts of the receipts and payments of local bodies, and to append to the Department's Annual Report certain statements as to orders and directions in respect of outdoor relief, etc., as required by the Poor Relief Act.
There are two reports required under statute to be furnished by my Department. The Local Government Application of Enactments Order, 1898, requires that the Department shall prepare, each year, an abstract of the returns and receipts and payments of local authorities under the Local Government Act. The local taxation returns are required to be sent to this Department by local bodies within one month after the completion of audit. The holding of local audits was considerably in arrear in 1922, and since then additional audit work has arisen as a result of the adjustments consequent on the abolition of boards of guardians and rural district councils. The audits are now well advanced and under way, but it is desirable that the provisions of Section 13 of the Act of 1916 be retained for another year. Sections 21 and 23 of the Act of 1916 are ancillary to Section 13 as they relate to the application of that section to Ireland. The other return that is to be issued in my Department is in connection with the Act of 1872. Section 7 of that Act (the Local Government Act of 1872) enacts that the Department shall, once in each year, make a report concerning the execution of the several powers and duties vested in them. The Department recently sent to the Stationery Office for printing a report dealing with the administration of local government and public health for the years 1922 to 1925. So our statutory obligations regarding that particular Act will be performed when that is printed. The local taxation returns are being prepared and it is expected that they will be ready next year; so that will meet that obligation.
The Department at all times afforded the fullest information on all matters within its jurisdiction, both in the Oireachtas and before public commissions. I think that information should be sufficient for Deputies at the moment.
