I move:—
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £31,000 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending 31st March, 1943, for Salaries and Expenses in connection with Unemployment Insurance and Employment Exchanges (including Contributions to the Unemployment Fund), Unemployment Assistance, the Special Register of Agricultural and Turf Workers, and Insurance against Intermittent Unemployment, and for certain Services in connection with Food Allowances (9 Edw. 7, c. 7; 10 & 11 Geo. 5, c. 30; 11 Geo. 5, c. 1; 11 & 12 Geo. 5, c. 15; 12 Geo. 5, c. 7; No. 17 of 1923; Nos. 26 and 59 of 1924; No. 21 of 1926; No. 33 of 1930; Nos. 44 and 46 of 1933; No. 38 of 1935; No. 2 of 1938; No. 28 of 1939; No. 4 of 1940; No. 3 of 1941; and No. 7 of 1942).
The principal item in this Estimate, as Deputies will have noted, is the sum of £48,000 required during the remainder of this financial year to finance the project of the special register of agricultural and turf workers to which reference has already appeared in the Press. As Deputies know, there has been a movement of population from many rural districts out of the country to an extent which has created a danger that the full requirements of agriculture and turf production in respect of labour during the seasons of maximum activity will not be available. Because of that danger of a scarcity of skilled workers for these important occupations at certain seasons of the year, the Government decided to restrict their emigration. The regulations in force prohibit absolutely the emigration of workers with experience in agriculture or turf production from all parts of the country, outside what are known as the congested districts.
It was felt, however, that the imposition of a ban upon the emigration of such workers, who, by the very nature of the case, were likely to be unemployed during the slack seasons, imposed upon the Government an obligation in present circumstances to make some adequate provision for them during these periods of unemployment. It was decided, therefore, in the first instance, to increase the rates of unemployment assistance payable in respect of dependents of unemployed workers in rural areas, and, secondly, to establish a special register of agricultural and turf workers. Those whose names are inscribed on such register will become entitled on certain conditions to enjoy privileges of a specified character.
In the first place, they will become entitled to receive, over and above the unemployment assistance which they might otherwise obtain—and that includes unemployment assistance at the increased rates now payable—a sum of 5/- a week as a sort of retainer on their services. The privileges include also exemption from any Employment Period Orders that may be made, and, in addition, a preference for work financed out of State funds. By means of this register, it is thought that we can secure the retention in the areas concerned of a sufficient number of skilled workers to meet the requirements of agriculture and turf production in next year.
It is intended, of course, that those who participate in the scheme will accept obligations. Each person who applies for enrolment on the special register must, in the first instance, be suitable for employment in agriculture or in the turf industry, and must also undertake that while he is enrolled on the special register he will accept any offer of suitable employment, anywhere in the State, in agriculture or the turf industry, which may be made to him at any time. He will be expected to apply for such employment if so directed by a local officer of the Department of Industry and Commerce, and not to leave such employment voluntarily, without just cause, or to lose it through misconduct, and he must also undertake, when so directed by an officer of the Department of Industry and Commerce, to leave other employment, unless he can show just cause for failure to do so, in order to undertake any employment in agriculture or the turf industry which may be offered to him. The intention, of course, is that every effort will be made to secure employment, for those whose names are inscribed on the register, within the vicinity of their residences, but the obligation that is accepted by those who apply for enrolment is to accept work of this character in any part of the country in which it may be offered to them. It will, of course, be an entirely voluntary business. There will be no obligation upon anybody to apply for enrolment, and those who do apply will be informed of the nature of the obligation which they are undertaking.
The period of enrolment will normally be for 12 months. It is anticipated that the first date upon which men may be enrolled upon the special register will be the 6th January of next year, from which date payments to members will also be made. The amount which should be paid to persons who become enrolled on this special register, when unemployed, was, naturally, very fully considered. It had to be kept in relation to the agricultural wage. Under this scheme, a person who enrols on the special register and who is, in consequence of the number of his dependents, entitled to the maximum rate of unemployment assistance, will, in fact, receive 28/- weekly when unemployed. It is obvious that there must be a difference between the maximum rate so payable and the amount which the individual could earn when employed, as otherwise difficulties might arise.
While I think that the introduction of this scheme will help to solve a problem of the agricultural industry and help to meet certain difficulties that have been experienced in connection with turf production, it will also result in an amelioration of the position of agricultural workers, but I should not like any agricultural worker to participate in it without realising fully that certain penalties will follow from any subsequent refusal on his part to accept work of the kind for which he is being retained. These penalties will include disqualification from receipt of unemployment assistance for a period of 12 months. It is clear that there must be a substantial penalty. Failure to accept work in agriculture or in turf production by a person who had voluntarily enrolled in the scheme and accepted payment of the retaining fee during periods of unemployment would be a breach of contract which the person would commit deliberately, and consequently a deterrent in the form of a substantial penalty is a necessary part of the project.
In the case of the congested districts the position will be somewhat different. There is not the same absolute ban upon the emigration of workers from these districts as applies now throughout the rural parts of the rest of the country. It will, however, be open to workers in the congested districts to apply for enrolment on this register. If they do enrol, then they will voluntarily abandon any right they might otherwise have to an exit permit, to permit them to emigrate, for a period of 12 months following the making of the contract by them. The position, therefore, is that while in the country generally there will be a ban upon the emigration of skilled agricultural or turf workers, together with the opportunity of enrolling on the special register and getting the benefits that follow therefrom, in the congested districts there will not be the same ban upon the emigration of such workers. There will be, at the same time, the opportunity afforded to enrol upon the register and to secure the resulting benefits.
It is anticipated that the scheme will cost £48,000 in the first quarter of next year, that is, from 6th January, when it comes into operation, until the end of March. It is difficult at this stage to give an estimate of its cost during a full year. It is hoped that it will be possible to ensure that all those whose names are enrolled upon the register will, in fact, be employed in agriculture or turf production for the greater part of the year. This Supplementary Estimate also provides for the increase in the rates of unemployment assistance payable in rural districts under Emergency Powers (No. 236) Order. I have already explained to the Dáil, in connection with another Vote last week, the reasons why it was decided to grant increased unemployment assistance in rural areas by expanding the cash benefits payable in respect of dependents, rather than by an extension of the food voucher scheme now operating in urban districts. It is true that on the basis of the present value of the food that is supplied free on the voucher scheme, reckoning that value at urban rates, the value of the voucher is greater than the additional cash benefit being provided in rural areas, but it is probable that, taking the country as a whole, and reckoning the value of these foodstuffs on the basis of the prices in rural areas as distinct from urban areas, there is not such a substantial difference. The increase being granted to unemployment assistance recipients is at the rate of 1/6 for each dependent of theirs within the limits of dependency prescribed in the Unemployment Assistance Act.
The additional expenditure which it is anticipated will arise in the remainder of this financial year in consequence of the increase in the rates of unemployment assistance payable in rural areas is £80,000. Under this Supplementary Estimate we are also making provision for salaries and expenses in connection with the scheme for insuring building trade workers against loss of employment due to inclement weather, which was embodied in the Insurance (Intermittent Employment) Act passed this year. There has been some delay in bringing that Act into operation. That delay is attributable to the time required to perfect the administrative machinery necessary for the purpose, and to print the stamps and the cards that are required in connection with the scheme. I think it will be possible to get all the necessary administrative arrangements completed, and the necessary forms, cards and stamps provided in sufficient quantity to enable the scheme to commence about 1st April. Deputies will remember that the scheme must be in operation for a period of 12 weeks before benefits become payable under it. In other words, contributions will be collected from workers in the building industry for a period of 12 weeks before the second part of the scheme, which provides for the payment of benefits, can be brought into operation. That is part of the original scheme, and is provided for in the Act, the idea being to ensure that a fund will be collected from which any benefits accruing may be provided.
I think I have now covered the main items to which this Supplementary Estimate relates. They are: the introduction of the special register of agriculture and turf workers to which I have referred, the expansion of the rates of unemployment assistance payable in rural areas, and the inauguration of the scheme for insuring building trade workers against loss of employment through inclement weather. The total additional amount required is £31,000. The actual amounts involved are larger, but savings upon other sub-heads have made it unnecessary to provide the full amount that might otherwise be required.