I move:—
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £5 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, 1942, chun Síntiúis mar cabhair do Chostaisí Chumann na Náisiún.
That a sum not exceeding £5 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending the 31st day of March, 1942, for a Contribution towards the Expenses of the League of Nations.
The sum for which this Vote is taken is, of course, merely a token provision. The reason for that is, that at the time at which the Estimate was prepared, no communication had been received from the League of Nations with regard to its Budget for the year 1941 and the amount of the expenditure to be borne by this country. We have since received a communication containing these particulars and it is under consideration in the Department. It may be necessary to come to the Dáil for a substantive Vote later in the year.
It will be obvious to Deputies that, in present circumstances, the League of Nations cannot function. So far as its political activities are concerned, it has ceased to function at all, and although some of its technical activities continue, principally the activities of the International Health Organisation and the Economic and Financial Organisation, these can only be carried on on a much reduced scale owing to lack of funds, difficulties of communication and other causes. Generally speaking, this reduction in the scope of the League's activity has been accompanied by corresponding reductions in its establishment and expenditure. The total staff of the League of Nations' Secretariat now consists of about 110 officials as compared with 688 officials in 1939. The estimated expenditure for 1941 is approximately one-half of that in 1940 and one-third of that in 1939. A large part of the continuing expenditure— about one-third of the total—is required to cover pensions to outgoing officials and deficits on the Budgets of previous years.
Of the 110 officials of the League still in office, about 70, I think, are at Geneva and the bulk of the remainder, including the staffs of the Economic and Financial Sections, are in the United States. The staff of the International Labour Office is similarly divided. Of the 95 officials who remain in office, 35 are at Geneva and the remainder with a few exceptions are in Montreal.
Although the proposed Budget for 1941, is only a half that for 1940, and one-third that for 1939, our contribution to the expenses of the League is not reduced proportionately. The reason for that is that within the last two years an appreciable number of States have terminated their membership of the League and a few, while remaining members, have suspended payment of their contributions. In both cases the result is to increase the financial burden carried by those States who continue to be members and to discharge the financial obligations of membership.
Whatever the political future of the League may be, there seems to be a widespread feeling that its technical activities, such as its work in collecting and publishing international statistics, in co-ordinating national public health programmes, in promoting the suppression of the international traffic in dangerous drugs, etc., will survive the present difficulties and continue to play a useful rôle in the post-war world, and that the financial burden of keeping the League organisation in existence is justified by the desirability of preserving such a nucleus of international co-operation. Every member of the League, as long as it continues a member, is bound to contribute towards the expenses of the League and a State can only cease to be a member of the League on giving two years' notice of its intention and discharging all its outstanding financial obligations. We have not given notice of our intention to terminate membership of the League of Nations, and, having regard to the policy which we have adopted towards the present world situation and the position of neutrality which the people of this country wish to preserve in the present conflict, I do not suggest to the Dáil that such a step should be taken.
With this explanation, I would ask the Dáil to pass the present token Vote on the understanding that if, as a result of the communications which we have received since the Estimate was prepared, it is found that a contribution from this country to the League in respect of the year 1941, is properly and fairly due, it is possible that a substantive Vote for the amount required to discharge our obligation may be presented to the Dáil in the course of the year.