I move:—
Go ndeontar suim Bhreise ná raghaidh thar £28,845 chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1941, chun Tuarastail agus Costaisí na Muir-Sheirbhíse (Achtanna Loingis Cheannaíochta, 1894 go 1939, agus an tAcht Imeall Trágha, 1933 (Uimh. 12 de 1933)); chun íocaíocht áirithe Cúitimh, maraon le págh breise do mharaithe agus costas cóireála leighis; agus chun Deontaisí alos fearas áirithe cosanta do longa do sholáthar.
That a Supplementary sum not exceeding £28,845 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending 31st March, 1941, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Marine Service (Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1939, and the Foreshore Act, 1933 (No. 12 of 1933); for certain payments of Compensation, including extra wages of seamen and the cost of medical treatment; and for Grants in respect of the provision of certain protective equipment for ships.
I think the sub-heads to which I ought to direct special attention in this Supplementary Estimate are sub-heads F and I. An additional sum of £1,900 is required for services in connection with wreck and salvage. The amount provided in the main estimate was £100, a provision that it was customary to make each year to enable the receiver of wrecks and customs officers to carry out certain provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and to incur expenses in providing storage, etc. When the property on wrecked vessels is handed over to owners or underwriters there is a claim for the payment of salaries and expenses incurred by the receiver, and where the property is not claimed it is sold for the benefit of the State and the proceeds brought into account in the Appropriations-in-Aid. Salvage awards in such cases have been charged to this sub-head.
Before the war it was found that a provision of only about £100 was adequate for the receiver's purpose, but the war at sea since September, 1939, has resulted in a large increase in the amount of valuable property recovered from the sea on the Irish coast. The amount actually paid out up to 30th September, 1940, was £252, but payments had not then been made in respect of a considerable number of cases which occurred during that period. We cannot make any dependable estimate of the amount likely to be required during the remainder of the financial year, but it is known that expenses totalling about £850 are due for payment in the immediate future, and in that situation it is proposed to ask the Dáil to provide the additional £1,900 to meet possible expenditure under that head for the full year.
With regard to sub-head G, Relief of Distressed Seamen, in most years the Department is called upon to provide the cost of repatriating on an average six Irish seamen who may be found in distress abroad. The sum hitherto involved has been small, and £25 was usually found sufficient. That sum was provided under that heading for the current year, but something in excess has been already expended, and there was the somewhat unusual case of the crew of the Luimneach, some of whom had been detained in Spain, and some in German-occupied France. A sum of about £150 for the repatriation of these men is anticipated, and it is considered that that supplementary sum should be provided within this sub-head.
