I move:—
Go ndeontar suim na raghaidh thar £9,000 chun slánuithe na suime is gá chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1933, chun Taighde agus Forbairte maidir le Baiterí Leictreachais.
That a sum not exceeding £9,000 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, 1933, for Electrical Battery Research and Development.
Prior to the current financial year, the Dáil provided a sum of £30,300 for the purpose of electrical battery development, made up as follows: there were two sums of £5,000 and £300, respectively, advanced from the Contingency Fund in the financial years 1928-29 and 1929-30, and, in the financial year 1930-31, a special Vote for battery development of £25,000 was taken. In putting that Vote to the Dáil, the Minister for Industry and Commerce made it clear that the sums advanced, and then being voted, did not cover the full amount of liabilities in respect of the Drumm Battery. He outlined that he had made an agreement with the Great Southern Railways Company for the provision of charging stations, installation of electric motors, etc., in connection with extended tests to be carried out on the Battery to ascertain its value for traction purposes. It was agreed with the railway company that this expenditure should be incurred by the company out of its own funds, it being agreed that the Battery Company would provide new batteries and the expenditure of the company should not be reimbursed by the Minister, unless the entire experiments on the Battery proved a failure and were abandoned.
As regards the construction of coaches, it was agreed that this should be, in the main, a liability of the railway company. That position still operated and that contingent liability is still there and it is necessary to draw the attention of the Dáil to the fact. It is not, however, proposed to ask for a Vote to cover the liabilities at this stage as it is not necessary, nor is any part of the money now being voted required for that purpose. The late Government decided at the request of the Board of the Drumm Battery Company, to make a further provision of £25,000 in this year. When the change of Government took place, however, I had certain discussions with the Company, and it was agreed that, out of that total of £25,000, there would be provided only the amount necessary to maintain the existing organisation of the Company and to complete the programme of construction of the Battery coaches which was then on hands. The amount mentioned in these discussions was about £8,000. A further sum of about £4,000 will be required by the Company to continue the same activity until the end of the present financial year.
Certain other proposals for experimental work were not being proceeded with. The attitude I took at the time, and the attitude I still maintain, is that we cannot ask the Dáil to vote any substantial sums for the development of this Battery until two positions have been reached (1) that we have got secured patents for the Battery and (2) that we have secured a report from a competent and reputable firm of consulting engineers as to its value for traction purposes. The position is at present that patents have been granted in a number of countries, but in Great Britain, Germany and the United States of America, they have not yet been granted. There is however no reason to anticipate that any difficulty will arise——
