I move:—
That a sum not exceeding £1,266,429 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, 1946, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, and certain Services administered by that office, including Grants and other Expenses in connection with Housing, Grants to Local Authorities, sundry Miscellaneous Grants and Grants-in-Aid, and certain charges connected with Hospitals.
It has been the practice hitherto to embrace in one discussion both the Local Government and Public Health sides of my Department. If the progress of business through the House had been what I might describe as normal, it was my intention to propose that, with the leave of the House, these two sides might be discussed separately this year, one of them, the Local Government side, being taken on the main Estimate, that is, on the Vote which we are now discussing, and the other, Public Health and associated matters, being taken on one of the other departmental Votes, say, on Vote 42, which is the Vote for the Office of the Registrar-General.
I suppose I may say, perhaps in anticipation of the discussion on next year's Estimate, that it would seem to me that that particular office which is responsible for the compilation of the vital statistics, as the statistics relating to births, deaths and marriages are commonly called, would not be an inappropriate Vote upon which to discuss matters so closely related to these as the problems of public health, medical services, hospitals, public assistance and so on. I would have proposed, Sir, in view of the agreement which I understand has been reached as to the total amount of time which might be occupied in the discussion of my Votes, that we should allocate, say, approximately, half of the time to the discussion of local government problems, and the remaining half to the discussion of public health matters. It would appear, however, that that proposal, for reasons which will be apparent to the House, is not a practicable one to make to-day, and therefore, I presume that we will discuss both the local government side and the public health side of the Department as we have hitherto been accustomed to do.
Accordingly, I will begin by informing the House that the collection of revenue by county councils during the last financial year showed an improvement on the preceding year, which is a matter upon which we may congratulate not only the county councils but ourselves, as it indicates that the economic progress of the country as a whole has been well maintained. The total county rate warrant for the year ending March last was about £4? millions, including arrears of £169,000 which had been carried forward from the preceding year. Over 90 per cent. of the total amount was collected within the year as compared with 89 per cent. during the year ending March, 1944. The satisfactoriness of the collection varied over the different counties. In several counties it is gratifying to note that the collections exceeded 97 per cent. The rates outstanding on the 31st March, 1945, amounted to £500,000, which is less than one-half of the amount outstanding three years ago. Naturally, in consequence of the satisfactory collection, the financial position of the local authorities has been greatly strengthened, and has been further improved by the recovery of arrears of annuities which has resulted in the repayment by the Land Purchase Guarantee Fund of local taxation grants which had been absorbed in the Fund to meet land annuity arrears. I should mention that, in the past three years, the total amounts of grants repaid by the Fund and issued to local bodies were £242,890 in 1943, £214,254 in 1944 and £84,169 in 1945. The House will, of course, appreciate that as the pool of arrears diminishes the amount which falls to be released to the local authorities from the Guarantee Fund will naturally tend to diminish correspondingly.
In framing the Estimates for local services in the present year I am glad to say that the local bodies, with one regrettable exception, have recognised their responsibilities and made reasonable provision for the maintenance of their local services. The exception is the Kerry County Council. For several years prior to 1944, proper provision had not been made by that body for road maintenance, despite the repeated representations made to the county council by my Department. As a consequence of this, the condition of the roads in Kerry deteriorated very considerably. Last year the county council after, again, repeated remonstrances on my part, and, indeed, after I had to resort to a threat to abolish the county council, decided to increase the provision for the maintenance of the roads, and increased the rate by 3/8 in the £. When, however, the road estimate for the present year was laid before them at a meeting on the 18th January last, the council refused even to consider it, on the plea that they desired that a special engineer should be appointed to make an inspection of the roads in order to ascertain if value was being obtained for the money spent on them.
The Council also wanted a sworn inquiry into road administration in the county. It was pointed out to the council that no reason had been advanced for the holding of a sworn inquiry which, as the House is aware is always, from the point of view of a local authority, a very expensive matter, and that while it was open to them to have an investigation by a special engineer on road expenditure, the road estimate for 1945-46, prepared by the newly appointed county engineer, should, therefore, be first considered, so that provision for this service would be included in the rates for the present year.
A further meeting of the council was held on February 8th for consideration of the road estimate, as a decision would facilitate the preparation of the rate books. At that meeting the deputy county manager advised the council that there was little time to prepare the estimate, but again the council resolved to defer the consideration of the county manager's proposal pending an investigation into road expenditure. There was no reason at all why they should not consider the proposal in detail, and adopt an estimate which would be adequate to provide for the service, or why such an investigation as the council seemed to want should not be undertaken in the ordinary course of the year. However, the majority refused on the second occasion, even to consider the estimate. In accordance with law I fixed 19th February, 1945, as the date on which the council should meet to consider the road estimate for the year.
A meeting of the council was duly held on that date, at which a resolution was adopted in the following form:
"That we do not strike the rate proposed until the inquiry asked for be held".
An amendment, that the road estimate submitted be considered, was defeated by 11 votes to nine. Before taking that decision, the council had previously been warned by the deputy county manager that they were bound by law to make provision for the coming year, and that refusal to consider the rate estimate would be a failure to discharge their duty. Consequent upon the county council even refusing to consider the road estimate, I ordered a sworn inquiry to be held. Let me remind the House that that was the duty of the local authority, which controls the purse, to consider the estimate submitted to them by the county manager. If after discussion with the county manager they found that deductions could be made within reason, and if the manager was satisfied that the deductions would not interfere unduly with the proper provision made for the local services, they could reduce the estimate and could strike a rate which would be sufficient to provide for the reduced estimate. But Kerry County Council took up the attitude that they were not even prepared to consider the estimate submitted to them by the county manager.
Following this action of the county council I directed, as I have said, a local inquiry to be held into the performance of their duties. At this inquiry the members of the county council tried to justify their attitude on the ground that they were not satisfied that the ratepayers were getting value for the amount expended on the roads, that the roads were being used by outside traffic that they were not intended for, and that they were destroyed by traffic consisting of turf and beet going out of the county. In short, the case was put up that the people of Kerry were paying for roads that they were not damaging. That contention is puerile, and entirely ignores the fact that the people of Kerry live by the production and sale of turf, beet and wheat which are sold in all parts of the country, and that the income derived from the sale of these products reaches a very substantial figure. For instance, the expenditure on wages of workers employed by the county council of Kerry, all Kerrymen, and, therefore, Kerry ratepayers, from the production of turf sent to other parts of the country amounted to £570,000. In addition, the quantity of turf produced by farmers and other private producers in Kerry and sent to other parts of the country realised approximately £800,000.
No person of intelligence could seriously contend that Kerry did not benefit from turf production, and as regards wheat and beet it is only infantile to suggest that the producers of these commodities for sale should not have to bear the reasonable cost of transporting them outside the county. Do they expect wheat consumers and sugar consumers in other parts of the country to make an annual pilgrimage in order to consume Kerry wheat and Kerry beet?
Everybody knows that considerable advantages must have accrued to the farmers and workers of Kerry in the production of these commodities. No weaker ground could have been advanced by responsible public men—it is scarcely reasonable to describe them as responsible—for refusing to discharge their public responsibilities. As far as the members of Kerry County Council are concerned, in view of the condition of many of the roads of the county, and the effect on road transport, it should be made clear to them that the maintenance of the roads is vital to the life and economy of the Kerry people. For the present condition of the Kerry roads the county council is entirely responsible. The provision for main roads was reduced from £42,000 in 1938-39 to £2,000 in 1943-44, while the provision for road maintenance was reduced from £46,700 to £28,400. These reductions, let me emphasise, were effected despite representations from my Department, and the effect of such a policy will inevitably result in placing a much heavier burden on the ratepayers at a later period in order to restore the roads to a normal condition. The council expected to force a larger road grant than I had allocated. In that they failed.
I should point out that in the present year the increased rate necessary for roads is due not to increased maintenance of roads mainly carrying turf and other traffic, but for road maintenance generally. The total rate estimate shows a decrease as compared with previous years. The difference in the rates between the two years arose from the fact that the council in the previous year borrowed £35,000, instead of making provision for that out of revenue, and in the present year, in addition to the extra sum necessary for road maintenance, provision has to be made for repayment of an instalment of the loan. I treated Kerry County Council last year with very great consideration. I treated them, in my view, with no less consideration this year, to assist them to put road maintenance on a proper basis, but the attitude they adopted in connection with the estimate for the present year convinced me that no reliance could be placed upon them to improve administration.
It is absolutely essential to ensure that the economic life of the people of Kerry will not suffer from a defective road system. It is equally important to ensure that a county council entrusted with such important functions will discharge them properly and, where that is not likely to be done, I have no option but to relieve them of their public responsibilities and to transfer those responsibilities to a commissioner who will see that the services are fully maintained. That has now been done. Some reduction has been made in the road estimate proposed, and I think that the people of Kerry are substantially the gainers by my action.
With regard to the road position in general, I think we can say that, despite the difficulties arising from a shortage of certain materials, it has been well maintained. Most of the main roads are constructed in waterbound macadam, surface dressed. Roads of this type of construction require regular surface dressing to keep them waterproof. Owing to the scarcity of tar, it has not been possible to do this. They have, however, been preserved, as far as possible, by rolling. The expenditure by local authorities on surface dressing of roads varied between £200,000 and £350,000 per annum. About 7,800 miles of roads require surface treatment, and this will be one of the principal works which must be undertaken when tar and bitumen again become available. The cost will, probably, amount to about £2,000,000 and the period required to complete the work will be from three to four years.
In the Estimate, a sum of £62,000 is provided for the construction of roads and drains in connection with bog development works. This provision is somewhat less than that of previous years. That is due to the fact that greater expenditure was necessary on important works when new bogs were first being opened. In the present year, turf production by county councils is being continued. There were 16,000 workers employed on the bogs at the end of April and the target we are aiming at for Fuel Importers, Limited, is 400,000 tons. In this connection, I might say that over 2,000,000 tons of turf were produced by the county councils up to the end of the 1944 season. Of that amount, 1,250,000 tons were disposed of to Fuel Importers Ltd., 200,000 tons to other purchasers and 400,000 tons were retained by the producers for their own use. About 160,000 tons of the total turf production now remain to be disposed of. The total expenditure by county councils on financing turf production up to 31st March last was £4,641,424. The receipts against this amounted to £3,908,462 and the balance of £732,962 will be dealt with in the transactions of the present year.
With regard to housing operations undertaken by the local bodies, these, in the past year, were practically confined to the City of Dublin. Seven hundred and ninety-seven dwellings were completed by the corporation, and 618 of these are single family dwellings erected in the districts of Crumlin and Cabra. The balance consisted of 179 dwellings provided in reconditioned houses. Further schemes at present in progress in the Crumlin and Cabra areas provide for the erection of over 1,000 additional dwellings. Outside Dublin, housing activity was very slack. Only 185 houses were completed during the year by six urban authorities. There was a limited amount of building by private persons with the aid of grants. The total number of new houses erected under this head was 267. The number reconstructed with the aid of grants was 300. In rural areas, 102 labourers' cottages were built in seven counties.
More widespread and greater activity in housing, I am glad to say, may be anticipated in the present year, and it may be of some interest if I give a general picture of the housing problem as ascertained by recent surveys throughout the country. In the years since the emergency began, much useful work was accomplished in housing. There were difficulties and delays, of course, in obtaining materials, and there were rising costs to contend with, but, nevertheless, the local bodies succeeded in providing for 11,000 houses. As regards future housing operations, it is estimated that 43,000 new dwellings will be required in urban areas. The total number of houses provided by urban authorities is, approximately, 50,000, of which 31,000 have been provided since 1932, over 20,000 of these being provided prior to the outbreak of the emergency in 1939. Of the total number of new houses required, the requirements of Dublin City represent, approximately, one half, while the estimated requirements of the four county boroughs and the Borough of Dun Laoghaire constitute 70 per cent. of the total requirements of new urban housing. Of the remainder of the urban areas, housing needs are greatest, with one exception, in towns with populations of over 10,000. In those areas, the needs range from 872 to 418. In urban areas of lesser population, the number of new houses required is relatively small. In Cork Borough, almost 4,000 additional new houses will require to be erected, and the corporation there have secured sites comprising 170 acres. In Limerick County Borough, about 2,000 houses will be required. A scheme of 42 new houses is about to be undertaken, while proposals for the building of 1,793 further houses are receiving consideration by the corporation. In Waterford County Borough, 987 houses are required, and the corporation are making arrangements there to proceed with schemes to liquidate that requirement.
As regards rural housing, the estimated needs are 16,000 houses. An apportionment of the needs of the several counties shows that 8,021 cottages are required in Leinster, 5,524 in Munster, 775 in Connacht, and 1,801 in Ulster. When local authorities were invited to undertake the housing surveys upon which the figures that I have given the House are based, they were also urged to carry out preliminary works in respect of schemes to be put in operation immediately materials become generally available. Land, accordingly, has already been acquired and plans approved in respect of 7,802 houses. Included in that number are 5,356 dwellings in Dublin City, 42 in Limerick City, 577 in other urban areas, and 1,827 in rural areas.
Further schemes for 1,358 houses are in an advanced stage of preparation. Of these, 1,327 are in urban areas other than the county boroughs, and 21 in rural areas. The schemes already approved will enable the first year's programme to be started as soon as conditions are favourable. The scale of building may be somewhat restricted at first but an increasing rate of progress will be made, according as materials are in full supply.
It is customary in dealing with the annual Estimates to review the latest statistics of births, deaths and marriages in the country. The statistics available for 1944 are as yet only provisional, but nevertheless they represent a fair picture of the position. The number of births in 1944 was slightly in excess of the number for the year 1943, and not far below the number for the year 1942, which was remarkable for a large increase in births, the number being 9,337 over the figure for the year 1941. The total number of births in 1942 was 66,117, in 1943, 64,275, and in 1944, 64,756. The decrease since the peak year is small and it looks as if a higher birth rate is likely to be maintained.
In 1944 the number of marriages was 16,875, being 453 fewer than in the previous year. The marriage rates for the years 1942, 1943 and 1944 have been the highest since 1864, when registration of marriages began in this country.
In 1944, the total number of deaths was 45,147, being an increase of 1,653 over the number of deaths in 1943. The detailed statistics are not yet available to indicate the various causes of the increase, but so far as they are available the increase was not due to mortality from infectious diseases. The death rate is naturally affected by many causes and, therefore, fluctuates within fairly wide limits. It is gratifying to note that, so far as infant mortality is concerned, the death rate in rural parts of the country is low. In the year 1943, for which full statistics are available, the mortality rates for urban and rural areas per 1,000 births were 110 and 67, respectively. The total number of infant deaths in 1944 was somewhat less than in 1943.
As regards the principal infectious diseases, namely, typhus, typhoid, diphtheria, scarlet fever and puerperal sepsis, there was a fall in the aggregate incidence in 1944 as compared with 1943. The position would have been much more favourable were it not for a further rise in the prevalence of diphtheria. The total notifications for all these diseases during 1944 amounted to 7,156, of which 5,086 or, approximately, 71 per cent., were in respect of diphtheria. Notifications of typhus fell from 20 to nine, of scarlet fever from 2,256 to 1,538, and of puerperal sepsis from 80 to 70. With regard to the increase in the incidence of diphtheria, I should like to refer the House to a statement made in a recent report by the Medical Superintendent of Health for Cork City, who said that after 15 years' experience of immunisation, during which 23,000 children were immunised, there has not been a single death from diphtheria amongst these children. His report stresses the fact that despite the success which has thus been achieved a great many people will not avail of the services placed at their disposal for the protection of their children, until faced with an acute emergency, and even under such circumstances a large proportion will still not take the trouble to have their children safeguarded. My Department continues to urge on local bodies the need for continuance of efforts to induce parents and guardians to avail of the schemes for the free immunisation of their children against the dangers of diphtheria.
The number of deaths from measles, which many people continue to regard as a harmless and more or less normal children's disease, but which nevertheless, has its toll of fatalities, may be noted. However, in the year 1943, the number of deaths from measles was 32, the lowest record ever attained in respect of this disease. In 1944 the number of cases showed a sharp increase to 7,835, and the mortality rose to 133, the highest number since 1936. The mortality from this disease, accordingly, moves in cycles, gradually attaining a peak in a particular year and then sharply declining to a low figure. The disease of whooping cough also moves in cycles but to a lesser degree than measles. The number of cases notified in 1944 was 2,465, which gives a somewhat heavier incidence than in 1943, the number of deaths was 240, being 70 less than the number in 1943.
The Estimate makes provision here this year on the same basis as the previous year for the supply of assistance in kind, amounting to £170,000, to the recipients of home assistance, and for payments amounting to £230,000 towards provision of supplementary allowances to certain old age pensioners, to certain blind pensioners and their dependent children, and to certain recipients of disablement benefit under the National Health Insurance Acts, and their dependent children. The provision for the supply of fuel under approved schemes for necessitous families has been increased from £100,000 to £115,000, while the grants towards the supply of footwear for necessitous children have been increased from £20,000 to £30,000.
I do not think it is necessary for me to go into any detail as regards these grants. The House is fully aware of the amounts of the grants and the way in which they are administered, and how people can go about securing the advantages to be derived from them. It is not necessary, either, to go into any detail as regards other public health grants except the provision for the treatment of tuberculosis, which has been increased from £205,000 to £217,750. The special measures to deal with tuberculosis were recently discussed when the Tuberculosis (Establishment of Sanatoria) Bill was before the House. Since the Bill became law, I have set up a special section in my Department to prepare plans and other contract documents for the establishment of three regional sanatoria at Dublin, Cork, and Galway. For the Dublin regional sanatorium of 1,000 beds, I may mention that a site has been selected at Santry and that for the regional institution to be provided in Galway a site has been selected about one mile from the borough boundary. For the Cork regional sanatorium, a site has not been finally determined but no difficulty in obtaining a suitable one is anticipated. The existing tuberculosis services, I may say, are being actively carried on by the local officers of the local authorities and expanded wherever possible. A refresher course in the methods of treatment of tuberculosis was organised by my Department towards the end of last year. The course lasted two weeks and the arrangements were kept open for a period of 14 weeks. Every county medical officer of health and tuberculosis officer had an opportunity of familiarising himself with the most modern methods of treatment of tuberculosis and the most modern methods in use for diagnosis, case-finding and sputum examination. Additional x-ray and other equipment are being obtained but delivery may be delayed for some months.
The House will be glad to learn that there was a decline in the mortality from tuberculosis in 1944. The total number of deaths was 3,758 as against 4,306 for 1943. The special welfare scheme for tuberculous patients undergoing treatment which was introduced two years ago has been of great benefit. Local authorities, regrettably enough, were somewhat slow in making satisfactory arrangements for the provision of extra nourishment in the form of eggs, butter and milk and it was necessary to address them again on the matter and to urge that assistance in this form should be given as fully as possible.
As regards the provision of additional institutional accommodation, the projects which are at present being carried out will result in about 300 additional beds being available. About 90 of them are being provided in Dublin, 84 in Galway and about 55 in Monaghan. In addition 31 extra beds have recently been provided at Beaumont and a further extension is to be undertaken.
Last year local authorities were invited to review the scales of salaries for nursing staffs. In a circular letter which was issued by my Department in November last improved cash scales were recommended and also a scaling up of the valuation of emoluments. The majority of local authorities have already adopted a scale of £75 a year rising by annual increments of £5 to £90 a year with an additional increment of £5 when a nurse has been three years on £90 and a further and final increment of £5 when she has been four years on £95, subject, of course, to satisfactory service being given. This scale represents cash payment and is independent of the usual emoluments in respect of board and residence.
The number of persons in receipt of all forms of public assistance from 1944 shows a reduction as compared with the year 1943. There was, however, a slight increase in the numbers assisted during the months of January and February of this year. The cost of relief continues to show an upward trend. This is due to the adoption of a higher standard of home assistance and to an increase in the cost of institutional assistance due to higher expenditure on maintenance and upkeep. The numbers of patients in mental hospitals have shown a downward tendency since 1940. Up to the present year there has been a reduction of approximately 1,600 persons.
The work of the public assistance authorities was on the whole carried out in a satisfactory manner during the year. There was a number of cases involving disciplinary action but the majority of them related to charges of dereliction of duty against minor officers. During 1944 the Hospital Libraries Council registered four new hospitals under the scheme by which books are supplied to patients. This brings the total number of hospitals, including tuberculosis sanatoria, now registered with the council, up to 84. These, Sir, are the principal matters in which I thought Deputies might be interested.
