asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he will state the amount of relief grants allocated to each local authority in each of the financial years from 1928 to 1938 and the amount which each local authority was required to contribute in each of these years as a condition of receiving the grants.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Relief Grants.
The grants allocated through my Department to local authorities from the former Relief Schemes Vote from 1928 to 1936 (including grants under the Unemployment Relief Act 1931) and from the Employment Schemes Vote since 1936, are set out in the Department's Annual Reports for each year up to and including the year ended the 31st March, 1937. The Report for the year ended 31st March, 1938, has not yet been completed. A statement of the grants for that year is being prepared and will be sent to the Deputy. As regards the amounts contributed by local bodies to relief works, full statistics of this nature have not been compiled for the period. The annual returns of local taxation published by the Department show the receipts and expenditure of local authorities under various heads, but without reference to the amount of expenditure incurred for the relief of unemployment. The time and labour involved in segregating expenditure on employment schemes from other expenditure of local authorities would not be justified.