I move:—
That a sum not exceeding £12,350,000 be granted on account for or towards defraying the charges that will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1942, for certain public services, namely:—
£ |
|
1President's Establishment |
1,300 |
2House of the Oireachtas |
41,700 |
3Department of the Taoiseach |
4,600 |
4Comptroller and Auditor-General |
6,560 |
5Office of the Minister for Finance |
24,500 |
6Office of the Revenue Commissioners |
309,000 |
7Old Age Pensions |
1,230,000 |
8Compesnation Bounties |
18,000 |
9Office of Public Works |
48,500 |
10Public Works and Buildings |
380,500 |
11Haulbowline Dockyard |
1,300 |
12State Laboratory |
3,300 |
13Civil Service Commission |
7,400 |
14Property Losses Compensation |
350 |
15Commissions and Special Inquiries |
3,100 |
16Superannuation and Retired Allowances |
166,700 |
17Rates on Government Property |
49,000 |
18Secret Service |
6,700 |
19Expenses under the Electoral Act, and the Juries Act |
Nil |
20Miscellaneous Expenses |
3,300 |
21Stationery and Printing |
60,000 |
22Valuation and Boundary Survey |
11,000 |
23Ordnance Survey |
11,790 |
24Supplementary Agricultural Grants |
450,000 |
25Law Charges |
23,000 |
26Universities and Colleges |
77,700 |
27Widows' and Orphans' Pensions |
150,000 |
28Quit Rent Office |
1,100 |
29Management of Government Stocks |
20,700 |
30Agriculture |
310,000 |
31Fisheries |
9,000 |
32Office of the Minister for Justice |
14,600 |
33Gárda Síochána |
706,000 |
34Prisons |
29,000 |
35District Court |
13,800 |
36Supreme Court and High Court of Justice |
18,400 |
37Land Registry and Registry of Deeds |
15,700 |
Circuit Court |
16,900 |
Public Record Office |
1,744 |
40Charitable Donations and Bequests |
1,100 |
41Local Government and Public Health |
410,000 |
42General Register Office |
4,278 |
43Dundrum Asylum |
6,500 |
44National Health Insurance |
103,000 |
45Office of the Minister for Education |
63,000 |
46Primary Education |
1,400,000 |
47Secondary Education |
160,000 |
48Technical Instruction |
99,745 |
49Science and Art |
15,500 |
50Reformatory and Industrial Schools |
60,000 |
51National Gallery |
2,133 |
52Lands |
616,400 |
53Forestry |
64,420 |
54Gaeltacht Services |
50,000 |
55Industry and Commerce |
87,600 |
56Transport and Meteorological Services |
29,460 |
57Railway Tribunal |
980 |
58Marine Service |
14,000 |
59Unemployment Insurance and Unemployment Assistance |
383,000 |
60Industrial and Commerical Property Registration Office |
4,800 |
61Posts and Telegraphs |
885,800 |
62Wireless Broadcasting |
23,600 |
63Army |
2,771,000 |
64Army Pensions |
217,200 |
65External Affairs |
31,600 |
66League of Nations |
5 |
67Employment Schemes |
500,000 |
68Agricultural Produce Subsidies |
80,000 |
69Office of the Minister for Supplies |
9,535 |
70Irish Tourist Board |
1,500 |
71Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies |
5,600 |
72Repayment of Trade Loans Advances |
Nil |
73Emergency Scientific Research Bureau |
4,000 |
TOTAL |
£12,350,000 |
As Deputies are aware, the purpose of the Vote on Account is to enable moneys to be made available for the carrying on of the various Supply Services during the interval which must elapse in every financial year before the Dáil has had an opportunity for discussing each Supply Service Estimate in detail. Normally the greater part of the first four months of the financial year has elapsed before all the Estimates have been considered by the Dáil and the Appropriation Act passed into law. It is, therefore, customary to provide in the Vote on Account sufficient moneys to cover the working of the various Departments and services for the period from the 1st April to the 31st July. The amount necessary in most cases approximates to one-third of the total net Estimate for the year, but in some instances a departure from that proportion is necessary.
The various items comprising the Vote on Account of £12,350,000 are set out on the Order Paper and in the White Paper which has been circulated. As Deputies will have observed from the Volume of Estimates, the total net provision for the Supply Services in respect of the year 1941-42 is £35,322,791. This represents an increase of £697,755 on the net provision of £34,625,036, including Supplementary Estimates, in respect of 1940-41. The original net provision for the current financial year was £30,511,359 and, as compared with this figure, the 1941-42 provision is up by £4,811,432.
Whichever of the two modes of comparison Deputies may choose to adopt, the increase can only be attributed to the necessity for greater provision for the Army. The Army Estimate for the coming year shows an increase of £1,404,498 as compared with the total Army provision for 1940-41 (including supplementaries), or an increase of £4,957,908 as compared with the original net Estimate for the current year. It will be apparent that, were it not for the increase in Army expenditure there would be a net decrease over the whole Supply Services, notwithstanding the rising costs of materials reflected throughout many of the existing services and the expansion of Governmental activity necessitated by the present emergency.
Deputies will probably have noticed that the usual explanatory details of the Army Estimate for the coming year have been omitted as the Government have decided that, so long as the present emergency continues, it would not be in the public interest to publish such information.
As compared with the current year's Estimates, including supplementaries, there are increases on 27 of the 1941-42 Estimates, decreases on 42, while four show no change. The total of the increases on the various Votes amounts to £1,836,632, while the total of the decreases amounts to £1,138,877.