I move:—
Go ndeontar suim Bhreise ná raghaidh thar £10 chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1940, chun Tuarastail agus Costaisí i dtaobh Foraoiseachta (9 agus 10 Geo. 5, c. 58; agus Uimh. 34 de 1928), maraon le Deontas-i-gCabhair chun Talamh do Thógaint.
That a Supplementary sum not exceeding £10 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending 31st day of March, 1940, for Salaries and Expenses in connection with Forestry (9 and 10 Geo. 5, c. 58, and No. 34 of 1928), including a Grant-in-Aid for Acquisition of Land.
At the close of the session before Christmas, a Forestry Vote for, approximately, £22,000 was passed. Deputy Mulcahy asked that an opportunity be given to debate Forestry and the present Token Vote has been introduced in fulfilment of the promise then given. The amount of money granted by way of Supplementary Vote was intended to increase the provision for the acquisition of land and to make additional provision for maintenance operations. There is a considerable amount of difficulty in securing suitable land for afforestation purposes. The Forestry Branch desire that such lands should be available in comparatively large blocks—several hundred acres, if possible. Recently the average acreage which has come in has been only about 100. Deputies will realise that the acquisition of land in such comparatively small blocks imposes a heavy strain on the finances of afforestation work. Another thing we have to bear in mind is that land of which we may make the greatest possible use for afforestation purposes should be within a reasonable distance of an existing forestry centre. Although we should like to extend forestry operations so as to give employment and distribute the benefits of the schemes widely over the country, Deputies will realise that there is a limit to the number of centres which can be established. We have a fairly large number of centres already, as Deputies saw in the comprehensive report, giving an account of the activities of the Department over a period of years, which was recently published. There is the further difficulty that, when land is actually acquired, local people very often say they have been accustomed to grazing the land, that it was in use for commonage purposes, and they object very strenuously to the Department carrying on planting operations. We have met with that difficulty in certain areas and considerable areas of land which have been acquired by the Forestry Branch are in dispute. We have not been able to get that co-operation from local people which we consider necessary to the successful exploitation of the land for afforestation purposes. In spite of all these difficulties and the length of time which elapses before questions of title are settled, fairly good progress has been made. The rate of progress in acquiring land has not been as great as we would desire. Nevertheless, in spite of the small acreage of the individual blocks which have come in and the other considerations which I have mentioned, very large and valuable areas were acquired during the present year.
With regard to labour costs, the expenditure in regard to which we had to make extra provision before the end of last year, was due, almost entirely, to the higher rates of wages payable to forestry labourers under the Agricultural Wages Order, 1938. The figures showing the full effect of this increase were not available when the Estimate for Afforestation for the year 1939-40 was being framed. The incidence of expenditure under the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1939, to the benefit of which forestry labourers are entitled, and the increased expenditure in clearing the higher proportion of former demesne land acquired in recent years have also added to labour costs.
It was as a result of these increased labour charges that we had to provide an additional sum for cultural operations in order to ensure that the maximum output of planting operations would take place during the current year. The question of labour costs is very serious because, obviously, if there is, let us say, a 10 per cent. increase in labour costs, there will also be a 10 per cent. reduction in the number of persons employed. If we were employing 2,000 men before an increase of 10 per cent. was given in their wages, it would mean that we should have to knock off 200 men from employment, unless the Minister for Finance can provide me with additional finances, and I think that if the Government can provide me with sufficient resources to enable me to say to the House that we shall be able to carry on, more or less, on the same amounts as we had last year, we shall be doing very well indeed. I am not hopeful—although many people would desire it, and I would like to see it myself—that any increase can be made, and so I should like to take this opportunity to mention to the House that, if demands for increased wages have to be met, they must necessarily mean a decrease in the number of persons in employment.
The House might like to have a general account of the total amount of land which is in the possession of the Forestry Branch. These figures, Sir, are only approximate. The figures, in the different categories, which I shall read out, change almost monthly, and so Deputies will only be able to take these as approximate figures. At the end of January the Department had, roughly, 127,000 acres of land— 3,164 acres, roughly, have been acquired since November. About 86,000 acres consist of woods and plantations, and an area of 22,500 acres is unplantable. There is a further acreage of about 2,500 acres of scrub, and another area of, approximately, 3,500 acres, which is in dispute; that is to say, it is within the category of land where the local tenants, as I have explained, are contesting the right of the Forestry Branch to use the land for the purposes for which the Government purchased it. This means that we have, roughly, 12,500 acres as a reserve, and during the present year it is estimated that about 7,000 acres will be planted, which would leave about 5,000 acres for future planting. That amount provides for additional land which may be required for nurseries or, for example, the provision of houses for forestry employees.
