It has become the custom in recent years to have a discussion on Votes 10 and 11 together under Vote 10. Vote 11 deals with the functions of the Office of Public Works and Vote 10 deals with the Staff. It is difficult in the debate sometimes to separate the two. Accordingly, Deputies have been in the habit of dealing with the two Votes together. With the leave of the House I propose to make a statement on the two Votes under Vote 10.
The salient points to be noticed on this Vote are the reductions on sub-head A, Salaries, and sub-head E, Land Loans Service. The reductions on Sub-head A are partly in consequence of the reduction in the programme on new works reflected in Vote 11, the Vote for Public Works and Buildings. The first reduction noticeable in sub-head A of this Vote is not due to the reduction of programme; it is due to there being now only two Commissioners of Public Works instead of three. The late Mr. Commissioner Healy was retained in the service after the usual age for retirement, partly in order to strengthen the Board during the period of special pressure, which is now drawing to an end, and partly in order that the Government might be able to make use of his great experience and sagacity in special service on commissions and committees of inquiry. Unfortunately, he was incapacitated by a serious illness which carried him off last June—a great loss to the Government service. It has been decided not to fill the vacancy.
The second main item of reduction under sub-head A is reduction of the temporary architectural staff, which will be carried out in the course of the year; three assistant architects, five architectural assistants, one assistant to the furniture clerk, and two draughtsmen. This corresponds to the reduction which is taking place in the new works programme under Vote 11. The works of reconstruction are coming to an end.
The third main item of reduction under sub-head A of this Vote is in the staff of senior temporary engineers for arterial drainage. This is a reduction of establishment only, not of effectives; in fact the full numbers provided for in the Estimates have never been obtained. It was not found necessary to use so many senior engineers. The arterial drainage service having now got into a steady and fairly calculable course of routine, the requirements can be foreseen with more accuracy, and we budget only for the number of posts which are proved to be required.
As to sub-head E, Land Loans Service, the reduction here is due to a change of policy. The Government has decided to restrict the special advantages of these land improvement loans to small farmers, whose holdings have less than £20 valuation. It is held that larger farmers will be able to get all the credit facilities they need from the Agricultural Credit Corporation, and will not require the special care and fatherly treatment which they get from our inspectors under the Board of Works loans, and which, incidentally, costs the Government a good deal. The full reduction in staff and expenses consequent on this change will not come into force for some months, because when the decision was announced to apply to cases after the first of this month, there was a rush of applications which will take some months to deal with. The reduction in staff will take place during the autumn, and next year's Estimates will show a further diminution of charge for this service.
The only other point I think I need notice is under sub-head F, Appropriations-in-Aid, where there is a considerable increase on the item for recovery of salaries and expenses of engineering staff. This staff is partly for the Barrow Drainage and partly for the other arterial drainage schemes, and the reason of the increase in the sums recoverable is in the case of the Barrow Drainage that the money became recoverable only after the Barrow Drainage Act was passed, and in the case of the other arterial drainage schemes it is that they are only now beginning to come into operation, and therefore the services of the engineers begin to be chargeable to those schemes.
Dealing now with Vote 11, the most noticeable point about this Vote is its reduction as compared with last year. The gross Vote is £734,556 compared with £1,029,490, a reduction of £284,934. The net Vote is £581,881 compared with £820,470, a reduction of £238,589. It will be observed that the greater part of this reduction is on sub-head B, New Works, viz., £208,110. There are three separate reasons for this reduction. First, more conservative estimating of expenditure. We have been attacked in the past by certain Deputies for being too sanguine in our estimates of what we could spend, and there is no doubt that there was some justification for the attack. We were partly pushed by other Departments who, being anxious to get their buildings completed, urged that full provision should be made for them, and partly we were ourselves too sanguine about the practicability of getting forward with works at a rapid pace. We have cut down our expectations and reduced the Estimate. The second reason is a reduction in the number of special works of reconstruction which are being carried out. The period of reconstruction is coming to an end, though considerable expenditure will still be necessary for some years to come. The third reason is a deliberate cutting down or postponing of works for the sake of economy. All these three causes operate in reducing the total amount of the sub-head.
I will run through a few of the principal items of new works and give explanations where necessary. The scheme for improved accommodation for members of the Oireachtas is proceeding. The new restaurant, as members are aware, is in operation, and we hope to provide a smoke-room and some little further accommodation in the course of the present year. The Dublin Custom House is very nearly finished, and the money provided for this year is almost entirely for retentions on contracts. The new Income Tax Offices, Nos. 14 and 15 Upper O'Connell Street, are to be pressed on. The steel framing is complete, and the building work proper will shortly be begun. Very useful offices and large storage space will be provided for the Stationery Office at Beggar's Bush Barracks. This is a very necessary work, as the Stationery Office is cramped in its accommodation in its present house (Oriel House, in Westland Row), and economies can be made by the provision of proper space. Oriel House will become available for some other purpose. The great work of reconstruction at the Four Courts is proceeding, and it is hoped that less than two years from the present date will see it completed. The Record Office Treasury is a very necessary work, which will take two years to complete. It provides storage space for rapidly accumulating documents in place of that which was destroyed when the Four Courts were blown up. The provision for Gárda Síochána Barracks is reduced this year to £34,000 as against £91,000 last year. This is a deliberate cutting down and postponement of works for the sake of economy. The provision made in this year covers only (a) the completion of works which had already begun, and (b) five thousand pounds for specially urgent cases of new barracks where the present accommodation is exceptionally bad.
The provision for National School grants is £75,000 as against £100,000 last year. This again is a deliberate reduction and slowing off in the programme of re-housing National Schools, though it is a reduction only to the standard of 1927-28. On the other hand, we propose to proceed as fast as we can with the Preparatory Colleges on which work has been started, that being a matter of special urgency. In the case of the Dublin G.P.O., three out of the four great blocks of buildings are nearly finished. A small provision only for finishing work is made in the Estimates. The fourth, or Prince's Street Block, is only just commenced and will take two or three years to complete. In accordance with the reduction of the Defence Forces, the military building works in our Estimates are small, with the exception of Baldonnel, where a considerable expenditure is necessary to replace the present very unsatisfactory accommodation for officers and men of the Air Force.
In the Phoenix Park the item of £5,500 for improvement to roads, etc., is expenditure in connection with the International Motor Races to be held on the 12th and 13th July. It was necessary to remove the Phoenix Monument from its present position so as to leave a clear run on the straight road, and also to make certain improvements in the roads themselves, particularly at turnings. The greater part of the expenditure required for preparing the ground and carrying out the races will be borne by the Automobile Club, but the Government has thought it right to make what is practically a subvention to the races to the extent shown in the Estimates.
Harbour improvements show expenditure on four schemes where the Government is making grants. Those at Burtonport and Dingle are to be finished in the course of this year. Those at Buncrana and Rathmullan are to be commenced provided local contributions are forthcoming. These two are schemes of improvement to harbours for fishery purposes. A small item, the new motor launch for Dun Laoghaire Harbour, will represent an economy in the working of the harbour. The present harbour launch is worked by steam.
In the course of last year's debate the point was raised that it would mean a considerable economy if there were greater concentration of Government staff in public buildings, and I shall make a brief statement of our policy with regard to that.
The point has been raised that Government Departments are housed in a scattered manner in houses in all parts of the city and that this is wasteful. The statement is perfectly correct; this state of things was a necessary consequence of the change of Government, which involved new Government offices and altering some of the old ones; but it was made far worse by the destruction of the General Post Office, the Four Courts, and the Custom House. The Government is applying the only remedy by reconstructing these buildings. This reconstruction is not yet complete; when it is, there will be a very considerable concentration. It is not an economic measure so far as building expenses are concerned, because it is more expensive to erect new buildings than to maintain and pay rent for old ones; but it will prove economic by the increased efficiency of the Government departments, due to concentration.
The completion of the Custom House has already enabled us to give up or dispose of the following houses:—Three in Beresford Place (and a stack or section of the Dock Stores), four in Merrion Square, five in Upper Mount Street, two in Pearse Street, and one in Lower Baggot Street, besides Charlemont House in Parnell Square. Of these houses eight have been surrendered to the landlords; two have been let by us, apart from Charlemont House, which is being let to the Dublin City Commissioners for a Municipal Picture Gallery, and two have been occupied by the Patents Office, a newly-established office. There is one on our hands (41 Merrion Square) which will probably be let to the Electricity Supply Board. The Government has also by a special measure undertaken to build a central income tax office in Upper O'Connell Street (Nos. 14 and 15) which, when finished, will enable the income tax inspectors to give up ten separate offices in five houses.
Under sub-head B there are certain items appearing for the first time, namely, fishery harbours, dredging operations, £1,000; minor works of economic development, £2,500; rural industrial classes under the Department of Fisheries, £2,000; total, £5,500. This was previously provided for under Vote 54.
There is a misprint on page 45 of the estimate in connection with Colaiste Caoimhin. Marlboro' Hall, Glasnevin—Further Adaptations and Additions. The particulars of the work have become separated from the name of the building. The further works contemplated comprise new recreation rooms, gymnasium, manual instruction room, a drawing practice room, extra bath rooms, etc., at a total cost of £8,910. It is proposed to carry out about half of that at an estimated cost of £4,000 in 1929-30, leaving the remainder over until the following year.
We now come to sub-head J— Arterial Drainage. With regard to the Drainage Maintenance Act, it is not necessary to say very much, as no great expenditure is expected. A good deal of work has already been done under this Act, and some is still being done, but it is not expected that many more cases will arise in the near future.
Coming to sub-head J2—Arterial Drainage Act, 1925—the initial period of examination and investigation only, with no works on the ground to show, is now at an end. Two considerable schemes—Akeragh Lough in Co. Kerry, and Awbeg River in Co. Cork—are actually in course of construction, with three smaller schemes—Carrowreagh in Co. Roscommon, Clonlisk in Co. Offaly, and Hurley River in Co. Meath. These smaller schemes are not separately shown in the estimates because the grant for them will be less than £3,000 apiece. It is likely that half a dozen more schemes may get into work in the course of the summer, and from this time on there should be a steady flow of work. The estimate of £22,000 includes £12,000 for these schemes, which can be made economic by a free grant not exceeding £3,000 in any one case, in addition to £1,500, £7,500 and £2,587 for the Akeragh Lough, Awbeg and Cush schemes respectively.
The work on the two first mentioned schemes was commenced during the year 1928, and it is practically certain that operations on the Cush will start during the next few months. For any other schemes requiring a larger grant than £3,000 a Supplementary Estimate has to be introduced in order that they may be brought singly and particularly before the Dáil. The sums inserted in the estimates are those parts of the total free grants which it is expected will be paid during the financial year. The total free grant for Akeragh Lough scheme is estimated at £4,250, and for the Awbeg at £16,000, fifty per cent. of the total estimated cost in each case. The Kerry County Council has agreed to give a free grant of twenty per cent. in the Akeragh Lough case, estimated at £1,700, and the Cork Co. Council has, in the Awbeg case, agreed to contribute the amount in excess of fifty per cent. required to make the scheme economic to the occupiers of the affected lands, estimated at £11,130, or about 35 per cent. of the estimated cost. The total free grants in the Akeragh Lough case are therefore 70 per cent, and in the Awbeg case about 85 per cent., these being the amounts estimated to be required in order to make the schemes economic for the occupiers of improved land. The Cush scheme was estimated to cost £6,100, fifty per cent. of which, or £3,050, will be contributed by the Government, and 44½ per cent. by the County Councils of Leix and Offaly and the Tullamore Urban District Council. Following the investigation of objections received from occupiers to the scheme, certain minor amendments were found necessary, which resulted in the estimated cost being increased to £6,200. The Leix County Council and the Tullamore Urban District Council have agreed to contribute their share of the extra amounts required to make the scheme economic to the occupiers, and we are at present in communication with the Offaly Co. Council on the subject. As soon as a favourable reply has been received the scheme will be sent forward to the Minister for Finance for confirmation.
I might give briefly the position as regards the Arterial Drainage Act, 1925. We have received 578 petitions. Out of these, 529 have been recommended; 452 have been inspected, and, after being inspected, were amalgamated into 375 schemes. Of these 375, 214 have been valued. They again have been amalgamated into 141 schemes. Of these, 58 have been submitted to the Department of Finance, and 19 have been submitted to the county councils. Of the 58 schemes submitted to the Department of Finance, grants have been required from the county council in the case of 49. No grants have been required in the case of 9 from the county council; 32 of the schemes that required a grant from the county council have been agreed upon by the county council; and of these 32, plus the 9 where no grants were required, 12 schemes are in preparation, and in 29 cases the schemes are being prepared. In 20 out of the 29 schemes, the people interested, and whose lands it is expected will benefit, have voted in favour, and out of these 20, inquiries have been held in 14 cases, and 6 of these cases have been confirmed and work, as I say, has begun in 5.
Dealing with the Barrow scheme, it will be noticed that only £20,000 has been taken into the Estimate this year because it is anticipated that the remaining expenses for the year will be defrayed from loan advances and not by free grant. The total expenditure for the year is estimated at £65,000. The work is going forward very well at the present time, the weather conditions being exceptionally favourable for this time of the year. During the year the main work has consisted in the steady concentration on the excavation from the river bed on the critical points lying between Athy and Monasterevan. As mentioned in previous reports, there are two main obstructions in this fifteen-mile stretch, namely, the rock shoals at Bert, about three miles above Athy, and the rock shoal at Monasterevan, with their adjacent prolongations in softer material. Work of excavation is now far advanced upon the rock shoal at Bert and has been well started at Monasterevan.
During the year the rock excavated and removed at these two points has amounted to 25,200 cubic yards, of a total estimated quantity of 31,000 cubic yards. In addition the work on the soft excavation has been steadily pressed on by the aid of the excavating plant between Athy and Bert, and from about three miles below Monasterevan upwards into the town, where the main obstructions existed. Altogether a total of 176,500 cubic yards of soft material has been excavated from the bed during the year at these points, making a total of 317,000 cubic yards of soft excavation to date, out of a total estimated volume of 1,260,000 cubic yards in the Athy-Monasterevan (Figile River Junction) reach.
On this critical Athy-Monasterevan reach, which forms the key to the Barrow Drainage, about 25 per cent. of the soft excavation is complete, and about 80 per cent. of the rock. About half the soft excavation, especially in the four miles above Athy, has been in very difficult material, consisting of dense glacial detritus, blue clay and boulders, a material which tested the power of the excavating plant to its utmost. It can be taken that the worst of this material has now been cut through.
During the year the county road bridges crossing the Barrow at Bert, Monasterevan, and Baylough, on the Upper Barrow above Monasterevan, have all been underpinned and their foundations carried well below the bed-level of the scheme and otherwise protected and secured. During the year the work of preliminary clearing, and unwatering, has been carried out along the Upper Barrow from Monasterevan for about seventeen and a half miles up to Borness Bridge, near Mountmellick. For several miles of this length the river was badly blocked by fallen trees and dense overhanging growth, which has now been cleared away in preparation for the main scheme excavation. This preliminary clearing has already produced a marked improvement in the flood conditions which formerly prevailed in the district.
Steady progress has been made during the year with the clearing and removal of obstruction from the lower river along the fifteen mile reach between Athy and Milford, about five miles below Carlow, many parts of the river in this length being badly obstructed by felled trees, overhanging growth, etc. The work of deepening the Ardreigh Canal at Athy is in hands, and substantial progress has been made.
The total expenditure upon the work, up to the 31st March, 1929, has been £158,538 19s. 11d. or roughly about 37 per cent. of the total estimate of £425,000. While it would not be correct to state at this stage that 37 per cent. of the total work has been done, it may be pointed out that in works of this kind the ratio between the expenditure and the executed work is seldom direct. The following points have to be taken into consideration in estimating the true relationship. There is now available, and paid for, practically the whole of the plant required, namely, a fleet of ten excavators available as against an average of four only for the last two-and-a-half years. In addition, the works are provided with sufficient pumping and air-compressing plant, workshops and stores for the efficient maintenance of the plant, and further the back of the most difficult part of the work has been broken in the excavation along the Athy-Monasterevan reach. Three of the most important mills interfered with in the course of the work have been purchased, and there is no reason to suppose that future purchases or compensations will be heavy.
Granted average weather conditions the output and rate of progress from now should be substantially increased. Much benefit, it is generally admitted in the country, has resulted from the execution of the works even to their present state of progress, and this effort seems to have stimulated a desire on the part of those interested to press for independent subsidiary or ancillary drainage schemes on the upper reaches of the main river and its tributaries which lie outside the scope of the main scheme. It should be borne in mind that the Barrow Drainage is an arterial drainage which can do no more than provide an efficient outlet to districts hitherto unprovided with such, and to a large extent its success will depend upon whether that outlet is taken advantage of or not. The scope of the Barrow Drainage does not include any provision for secondary or land drainage schemes of this kind which more properly should follow on the execution of the main arterial drainage scheme than be executed simultaneously with it. These remarks seem relevant in view of the fact that it is known that several minor schemes of this kind are under consideration and that their immediate execution may be strongly pressed for.
The decrease of £56,345 in sub-head L — Appropriations - in - Aid, 1929-30—is mainly attributable to a reduction of £58,000 in the contribution expected from the Property Losses Compensation Vote owing to the curtailment of the programme of reconstruction of maliciously-destroyed property.
