Vol. 72 No. 3
I move:—
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £13,300 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, 1939, chun Seirbhíse Seicréidighe.
That a sum not exceeding £13,300 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, 1939, for Secret Service.
Of course I cannot ask for details in connection with this, but it has always appeared strange to us, as we were accustomed to an expenditure of something around £5,000 on secret service, to find £20,000 being expended now.
It is not being spent in fact.
It is being provided.
Yes, it may be wanted.
I do not quarrel with the provision of it, because it is a very great necessity in every country.
That depends on its use.
Could the Minister tell us what amount was spent last year?
I could not tell the amount actually spent last year, but I can give the figure for the year before, because it takes some time to get the figures in. I can give the Deputy the figures for several years back. They are as follow: 1930-31, £2,579; 1931-32, £1,511; 1932-3, £951; 1933-4, £4,808; 1934-5, £10,675; 1935-6, £7,611; 1936-7, £4,273.
The Minister can see the force of my point. It has risen as high as £10,000 from £1,000.
The Deputy realises that the circumstances were not wholly similar.
They certainly were not similar, but I think that whatever was in them was in favour of the later Administration rather than otherwise. It should have been less during recent years than in previous years.
The Deputy may have his view on that, but I will reserve to myself the right to hold mine.
