I move:
Go ndeontar suim bhreise ná raghaidh thar £15,125 chun ioctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1933, chun Tuarastail agus Costaisí i dtaobh Arachais Díomhaointis agus Malartán Fostuíochta, maraon le síntiúisi do Chiste an Díomhaointis.
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £15,125 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1933, for Salaries and Expenses in connection with Unemployment Insurance and Employment Exchanges, including contributions to the Unemployment Fund.
There are various increases in the amounts necessary under the various sub-heads to defray the cost of unemployment insurance arising during the course of the year. In the first place there is an increase of £9,390 in the amount necessary for salaries, wages and allowances. That increase arises out of the revised system of registration, which necessitated substantial additions to the staffs of branch offices as well as to the staffs at headquarters. As certain Deputies are no doubt aware, the number of officers in the employment exchanges and in branch employment exchanges is determined by the number on the live register. That is to say we calculate the amount of work that has to be done. In view of the increase in the number occasioned by the new system of registration, additional staff had to be secured. Additional staff was also required in the Claims and Records Office. We insisted on the practice of giving preference in employment on relief schemes to persons who are not in receipt of unemployment insurance benefit. That fact had a double effect. Not merely did it mean that persons entitled to draw benefit remained drawing benefit for somewhat longer periods than they otherwise would, but new claims were created in so far as persons entitled to benefit got work which did not take them out of benefit. The registers in that way were increased and increased staff became necessary.
Under sub-head B there is an incidental increase in travelling and incidental expenses also occasioned by the new work imposed by the new section of Industry and Commerce. In sub-head D—telegrams and telephones —there is an increase of £100 arising out of the same cause. During the course of the year the income from the Unemployment Fund in the sale of stamps proved to be substantially higher than was estimated at the beginning of the year. In other words, the amount of insurance employment in the country was increased beyond what was estimated. As the revenue of the Fund was increased beyond the Estimate, that is, the revenue from the sale of stamps, the State contribution has also to be increased. The State contribution is equal to three-sevenths of the revenue from the employers' and employees' contribution.
If Deputies will turn to sub-head J— Appropriations-in-Aid—they will see there also an increase which is due to the same cause. The State is entitled to take from the Fund one-fifth of its revenue to defray administrative expenses. As the revenue from the Fund was increased in excess of the Estimate, the amount to be obtained by way of appropriation-in-aid to meet administrative expenses is also increased by £10,000. There is an increased of £50 in the amount payable to associations in respect of costs of administration of unemployment insurance. That amount, of course, is always an estimate, and the estimate is never strictly correct. Ordinarily, a supplementary estimate would not be introduced to make good any deficiency, but as a supplementary estimate had to be introduced this year in any case, we are making that provision.
These are the principal items in the Estimate. The total additional cost is £25,290, of which £15,000 is represented by an automatic increase in the State contribution to the Fund, against which the appropriations-in-aid are increased by £10,065, leaving £15,225 to be provided. There are savings on other sub-heads of £100, so that the amount to be voted is £15,125.
