I move:—
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £1,583 chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1932, chun Roimhíocanna Ilghnéitheacha áirithe d'aisíoc leis an gCiste Teagmhais.
That a sum not exceeding £1,583 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1932, to repay to the Contingency Fund certain Miscellaneous Advances.
There is one item which, personally, I am not satisfied should have been paid from the Contingency Fund. When we were in Opposition we felt that payments from this Fund were of such a nature that they ought to be carefully examined by the Dáil. I shall take the opportunity of putting before the House a brief statement showing the nature of this Fund. A Contingency Fund was established in 1923-24 by the Vote of a Grant-in-Aid of £20,000. No final payment is charged against the Fund, and the Fund is restored to its original figure each year either by means of the repayments to Contingency Fund Vote or by repayment from the ordinary service Votes of advances made to them. The purpose of the Fund is to defray urgent or unforeseen expenditure which is not covered by ordinary Votes, and for which it may be impracticable to seek the immediate approval of the Dáil. The Minister for Finance may make advances from the Fund to meet deficiencies on the ordinary Votes, and for new services. Advances from the Fund are repaid from the appropriate ordinary Votes where a Vote for the service financed by the advance exists. In other cases they are repaid from the Vote for Repayments to the Contingency Vote. An account of the Contingency Fund, showing the advances made, repayments effected, and advances outstanding is prepared annually and is examined by the Comptroller and Auditor-General. This account is annexed to the Appropriation Account of the Vote for Repayments to the Contingency Fund in the annual Appropriation Accounts.
Part 3 of the Estimate gives particulars of the advances from the Fund in the current financial year which cannot be included in the ordinary Estimates. These are the provision of State bounties in respect of the birth of triplets. As the Department of Finance has no control over that important service, I hope the Minister for Finance will not be asked to account for the expenditure under that head in this House. Stamp duties remitted on deeds and other instruments in the Supplementary Estimate amount to £1,455 18s. 6d. These are Government deeds which are supposed to be stamped free of duty, but as no machinery exists for remitting that duty they are stamped, and the Revenue Commissioners Appropriation-in-Aid is met out of the Contingency Fund. The amount falls now to be reimbursed to the Fund in the Supplementary Estimate. The Department of Lands and Agriculture and the Department of Education present the majority of the instruments for stamping, free of cost, the former in connection with lettings and the acquisition of lands for forestry purposes, and the latter in connection with agreements between managers of national schools and their teachers.
The third item is in respect of renewal fees for 1931-32 and 1932-33 for patents in respect of the De Vecchis process for the desiccation of sugar beet. The position of that particular patent is a rather complicated one, and I have not had time to inquire into it, or to have it inquired into by the Department of Industry and Commerce, which, I think, is the Department originally responsible for the expenditure. I do not propose to say anything about it except that the item is a particularly small one and that I will have the matter inquired into.
The fourth item is an ex-gratia grant of £75 compensation to Mr. William McInerney for injuries received. Mr. William McInerney, of Kilrush, County Clare, is the gentleman who figured in Deputy Cosgrave's statement when, as President of the Executive Council, he was introducing the Constitution (Amendment No. 17) Bill. Mr. McInerney was wounded on 12th September last as the result of an attempt made on his life, alleged to be due to his open denunciation of certain illegal organisations, allegations for which, after careful inquiry, I am satisfied there was no substantiation. His injuries were such as to necessitate his detention in hospital for about six weeks, and I understand that he still carries a bullet in the muscles of his back. Mr. McInerney, through the Commissioner of the Gárda Síochána, made an appeal for monetary assistance from the State, and while it could not be admitted that he had any claim of a legal or equitable nature on the State, the late Government—and I should like to emphasise the late Government—felt in view of his injuries and as he had no apparent redress in law that the circumstances of the case were such as to warrant making an ex-gratia grant. On consideration the amount was fixed at £75, and was advanced from the Contingency Fund by direction of my predecessor, the late Minister for Finance. In opening my statement, I drew attention to the fact that the purpose of the Fund was to defray unforeseen expenditure which was not covered by the ordinary Votes, and for which it might not be practicable to seek the immediate approval of the Dáil. I am convinced that this certainly was a case in which the approval of the Dáil could have been sought before the ex-gratia payment was made. However, the payment was made, and it becomes my unwilling duty to submit it in the House, in order that the matter may be legalised, and that the Contingency Fund, for which I am responsible, may be reimbursed to that amount.
