I move:—
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £733,058 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, 1936, chun Tuarastail agus Costaisí Oifig an Aire Rialtais Aitiúla agus Sláinte Puiblí, maraon le Deontaisí agus Costaisí eile a bhaineann le Tógáil Tithe. Deontaisí d'Udaráis Aitiúla, Ildeontaisí Ilghnéitheacha agus Ildeontaisí i gCabhair, agus costaisí áirithe bhaineann le hOispidéil.
That a sum not exceeding £733,058 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, 1936, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, including Grants and other Expenses in connection with Housing, Grants to Local Authorities, Sundry Miscellaneous Grants, and Grants-in-Aid, and certain charges connected with Hospitals.
The Estimate makes provision for an expenditure on social services of a sum of £983,374, of which two-thirds will be directed to the provision of improved housing accommodation. The cost of this service is going to increase annually until we have completed our full programme for slum clearance. I have on several occasions addressed the House on the magnitude of the problem that lies before us, and at times I have expressed some dissatisfaction at the progress that was being made by local authorities. I am glad to say that the results of the past year have been on the whole satisfactory. The number of houses actually completed by local authorities within a period of 11 months from the 1st April, 1934, to the 28th February, 1935, was 6,055, which constitutes a record for new housing unsurpassed in any previous year under either the urban or rural housing codes. There is every prospect that the programme for the elimination of slum conditions and their replacement by homes in which families will have the necessary amenities of life will be fully achieved within the time we have set ourselves to accomplish it. Good housing is at the foundation of all the social services. I have been much impressed with the houses that are being built throughout the country to replace insanitary dwellings. They provide all the conditions necessary for well-ordered family life. An improvement in home conditions will be of immense benefit to our social system. The work is one worthy of the best efforts of the local authorities and the State.
Since the passing of the 1932 Act, 10,974 houses have been completed by local authorities. Of this number 7,446 are in urban areas and 3,528 in rural districts. The number of houses in course of construction is 7,190 and of these 5,217 are in urban areas and 1,973 in rural districts. Schemes that are being promoted, some of which are already well advanced, include provision for 18,489 houses, and of these 6,449 will be erected in urban areas and 12,040 in rural districts.
Seventy-three Orders have been made and confirmed for the clearance of unhealthy areas comprising 2,500 houses. Forty-five further Orders have been made and are awaiting confirmation.
The number of houses completed since 1932 by the Corporation of Dublin in connection with slum clearance is 2,000 and schemes are in various stages of progress for 3,554 houses. Cork Corporation have built 330 houses for re-housing and have schemes in hands for a further 400 houses. Limerick Corporation have built 74 houses and have schemes in progress for 628. Waterford have built 185 for re-housing and have schemes in hands for a further 130. Other areas where considerable progress has been made in building houses for slum dwellers are the boroughs of Dún Laoghaire, Kilkenny, Drogheda, Clonmel, and Sligo, and the urban districts of Ballina, Dundalk, Galway and Thurles.
The number of houses completed by private persons and public utility societies between the 1st April, 1934, and 28th February, 1935, was 4,452. The total number built since 1932 is 8,356, and of these 3,877 have been erected in urban areas and 4,479 in rural areas. Of the number erected in rural areas 603 are for agricultural labourers, 1,670 for farmers with a valuation not exceeding £15 and 295 for farmers with valuations between £15 and £25. The number of houses in course of construction at the end of February was 6,713 and of these 2,354 are being erected in urban areas and 4,359 in rural areas.
I am particularly gratified at the progress made in improving the housing conditions of the farming community. In the counties in which the 1926 census of population showed that the housing conditions were worst there is a greater proportion of houses being built, and the grants which are being made are serving a really useful purpose.
The general public health continues to be satisfactory. There was a distinct improvement in the incidence and death rate from the principal epidemic diseases during the year; 667 deaths were recorded as due to influenza as against 1,791 in 1933, the average for the previous five years being 1,438.
There was a fall in infant mortality, the number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 births registered being 63 as compared with 65 in 1933 and an average of 69 for the previous five years.
The death rate for maternal mortality was the same as for 1933, being 4.4 per 1,000 births. There was an increase in the incidence of puerperal sepsis, 92 deaths being attributed to that cause as compared with 80 in 1933. The number of deaths due to other puerperal conditions was 164, or six less than the number registered for 1933 under this heading, and 14 less than the number for 1932.
It is significant that the aggregate urban district death rate from all puerperal conditions has improved from 4.20 per 1,000 births in 1932 to 3.5 in 1934, while the aggregate rural district death rate from such conditions has increased from 4.76 per 1,000 births in 1932 to 5.0 in 1934.
Diphtheria has also shown a decrease from 3,379 cases notified in 1933 to 3,292 for 1934 with a corresponding decline in the death rate from this disease, the number falling from 418 in 1933 to 340 in 1934, the lowest figure recorded since 1931. This result may, I think, be largely attributed to the value of the immunisation campaign which is being pursued all over the country. In Dublin alone over 1,700 children were immunised last year and the work is being continued. Immunisation schemes are now in operation in every county in which a county medical officer of health is functioning. Several new schemes of immunisation were put into operation during the past year.
The number of cases of scarlet fever notified during the year amounted to 3,271 as against 3,369 in 1933, a drop of 98 cases. There were, however, seven more deaths from this disease than in 1932.
Enteric fever showed a sharp rise in incidence from 440 cases in 1933 to 590 in 1934 and the number of deaths increased by 14.
Our public health organisation has been advanced by the appointment of county medical officers of health for the Counties of Laoighis, Kilkenny, Tipperary S.R. and Waterford. The County Councils of Leitrim, Longford, Sligo and Tipperary N.R. are proceeding to make appointments and we will then have county medical officers in 26 counties. Steps are being taken to compel the remaining county to make an appointment.
The public health services for which grants are included in the Estimate continue to be administered satisfactorily. Maternity and child welfare schemes are in force in the four county boroughs and in the Boroughs of Clonmel, Dún Laoghaire and Wexford and 15 urban districts. In addition 103 voluntary agencies are engaged in this work and are subsidised from the grant.
The arrangements for the provision of free milk were administered during the last financial year by all the county boroughs and borough councils and by 52 out of 55 urban councils and by all the boards of health. The reports of the county medical officers of health testify strongly to the benefits derived by the children from the daily ration of milk provided at the cost of the grant, and many district nursing associations have given similar testimony.
School meals were provided by 48 local authorities in urban areas and towns, being an increase of six as compared with the previous year. In the Gaeltacht meals were provided by five boards of health.
Schemes for the welfare of the blind are now in operation in all districts. In the past financial year blind persons to the number of 1,902 were afforded assistance in their own home; whilst 230 were maintained in approved institutions.
Schemes for the treatment of tuberculosis are in operation in every area with the exception of Longford County. A scheme will come into force in this county upon the appointment of a county medical officer of health. Institutions for the treatment of tuberculosis are being provided in Limerick City, County Wicklow, County Kerry and County Galway, and the provision of sites for local sanatoria is under consideration in seven other counties.
There was no addition during 1934 to the districts in which school medical service schemes were in operation, viz., in the four county boroughs and 18 counties. The development in the public health services which will result from the appointment of county medical officers of health will bring the benefit of the school medical service to all the elementary school-going population. During 1933, the last year for which figures are at present available, the number of children examined by the school medical officers was 107,954. The following defects were ascertained:—Dental defects, 40,140; tonsils and adenoids, 23,234; defective vision and other eye defects, 18,333. Treatment was provided for:—Dental cases, 31,110; tonsils and adenoids, 6,553; defective vision and other eye defects, 10,954. A considerable proportion of the children with enlarged tonsils and adenoids have been placed under observation. Operative treatment for tonsils is only resorted to in cases that show great enlargement or where the tonsils are septic.
Progress was well maintained in the carrying out of essential public health works. Grants amounting to approximately £100,000 were allocated for water supplies and sewerage schemes. Loans advanced for the purpose amounted to £150,000.
Under the Allotments Act of 1934, 800 plots were provided last year for unemployed persons in the four county boroughs and eight other towns. This year 2,384 allotments are being provided in the four county boroughs, two boroughs and 28 other towns. In most cases the rent has been fixed at a nominal amount of 1/- per plot.
The position with regard to road administration has been in general satisfactory. Road authorities and their surveyors have maintained that spirit of co-operation with the Department to which I referred last year. Speaking generally, all concerned have tried to expend the moneys available to the best advantage, and there has been no outstanding point of difference between them and the Department. There are a few counties, however, where I am not fully satisfied that better results could not be obtained, and I hope to apply some pressure in these cases. It is also intended to see what can be done and in some of the urban areas in which the urban roads are maintained in a manner which leaves considerable room for improvement.
The provision made by county councils for the maintenance of roads in the present year is considered satisfactory. The amount provided for the upkeep of main and county roads shows a net increase of £57,216 over the provision made last year. There is also an increase of approximately £26,800 in the amount voted for surface dressing of main and county roads; the mileage of roads to be treated in this manner is 2,141 as compared with 1,951 last year.
It is gratifying to be able to say that so far as the Department are aware the compulsory insurance provisions of the Road Traffic Act, 1933, are working satisfactorily. It will be remembered that the insurance interests undertook to investigate, if requested by the Department, any case of refusal of insurance or any case where insurance was offered on onerous conditions. In the past 12 months only four cases of specific complaint came before the Department; two of these were referred to the companies for investigation and in each case a reasonably satisfactory settlement was arrived at. When it is remembered that there are about 60,000 motor vehicles in use it will be realised that there has been no difficulty as to insurance. Arrangements have been made by the Department that the Gárdaí are given seven days' prior notice by the licensing authorities of the expiration of policies. This enables the Gárda authorities to check up against possible defaulters.
In April last we thought it desirable to make additional regulations to tighten up the matter of the keeping of records by insurance companies and to facilitate insurance in respect of motoring visitors to the Saorstát. Under these regulations it is possible for the visitor to obtain the requisite insurance certificate before he comes here.
On 2nd July last we brought into operation the following Parts of the Act, viz.:—Part II—the classification of vehicles, including provisions as to contruction, equipment and use; Part III—the driving licence, including the disqualification and endorsement provision; Part IV—speed limits, including the dangerous driving sections; Part VI—the provisions with respect to competency and fitness to drive; Part X—the provisions relating to the lights to be carried on vehicles.
The bringing into force of these parts of the Act involved the making of detailed regulations covering 49 sections of the Act. Suitable instructions were issued to the licensing authorities where necessary.
Section 36 of the Act cured a defect in previous legislation in regard to notice of disqualifications and endorsements. The courts must now notify the Department in each case, and the Department must circulate the information to all licensing authorities. Up to the present we have received and circulated 67 such notifications. The new procedure renders it much more difficult for a disqualified person to obtain a driving licence than under the old system.
On 9th March, 1935, the remaining portions of Part IX of the Act, with the exception of one section, were brought into force. These relate to the regulation of traffic under by-laws made by the Commissioner of the Gárda Síochána. These by-laws have been recently received and are at present being examined in my Department for the purpose of confirmation.
There still remain to be brought into force Parts VII and VIII of the Act relating to public service vehicles. The drafting of the requisite regulations as to the construction and equipment of such vehicles has been now almost completed, and it is hoped to bring in those Parts at an early date. The position with regard to some of those provisions of the Act became somewhat altered by the amalgamation of transport services. When these portions of the Act come into force their operation will involve the making of a considerable number of statutory regulations.
With an Act of such magnitude as the Road Traffic Act, on the one hand, a consolidating measure, and, on the other, an Act containing much new material, it was inevitable that it could only be brought into force in stages. On each occasion ample publicity is given.
The collection of revenue by county councils was very backward in the first half of the financial year, largely due to the delay in the issue of the rate warrants. After October the position began to improve, and by December over £1,000,000 had been collected. Since December there has been continuous improvement. The complete returns up to the end of March are not yet available, but there are indications that in some counties the position will be better than at this time last year. Of eleven counties in which returns are available to-day there is improvement, a marked improvement, in six cases, and in the remainder there is no disimprovement. In many cases a good collection is largely a question of securing payment of rates at an earlier date. There is an increasing tendency amongst ratepayers to defer payment until late in the financial year. It would be a great advantage to the county councils if ratepayers realised the necessity for earlier payment of the rates. Most of the county councils are well advanced in the making of the rates for the present year, and I will ask them to press forward with the collection as soon as the demand notes are served.
There is one other matter to which I desire to refer and that is town and regional planning. The Act of last year was circulated to local bodies in November last together with a summary of its provisions and a copy of the regulations made thereunder. So far very little action has been taken by local bodies. A reasonable time must be allowed for a proper study of the provisions of the Act and of the procedure to be followed. Two local authorities, the Corporation of Dún Laoighaire and the Urban District Council of Killarney, have passed resolutions for the making of planning schemes. The Mallow Urban District Council rejected a resolution for the making of a scheme. The adoption of the provisions of the Act is being considered by the Bray Urban District Council, and by the Dublin County Council as regards the northern portion of their area. The local authorities in County Wexford have also the matter under consideration. It is important that the development which is taking place particularly in urban centres should be controlled with due regard to modern traffic requirements, sites for housing and the provision of modern sanitary services. I propose to take this matter up again with the local bodies with a view to encouraging them to give effect to the provisions of the Act.
