Vol. 104 No. 10
I move:—
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £1,030,000 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending 31st March, 1947, for the increase of the Grant to Local Authorities in Relief of Rates on Agricultural Land (No. 35 of 1925, No. 28 of 1931, No. 23 of 1939 and No. 36 of 1946).
(1) The purpose of this Supplementary Estimate is to provide the additional sum required in the current year to enable the Rates on Agricultural Land (Relief) Act, 1946, to be implemented. As the House knows, that Act made provision for a substantially increased measure of relief from rates on agricultural land for two years (1946-47 and 1947-48) and for a simpler method of determining the primary, supplementary and employment allowances.
(2) A firm estimate of the cost for the current year of the new allowances could not be made before 1st February, because claims for employment allowances could be made up to that date. The total amount now estimated to be required this year for the Agricultural Grant will be approximately £2,900,000, which represents an increase of £1,030,000 over the original figure of £1,870,000 (of which £1,270,989 has been provided by means of the Vote for Supplementary Agricultural Grants already passed by the Dáil, the balance of £599,011 being borne on the Central Fund). The allocation of the increased grant as compared with the allocation of the grant for 1945-46 is estimated as follows:—
|
1945-46 |
1946-47 |
|
|
£ |
£ |
|
|
Primary Allowance |
1,212,740 |
1,828,683 |
|
Supplementary Allowance |
297,093 |
473,991 |
|
Employment Allowance |
351,298 |
582,499 |
|
Certain Urban Areas |
8,869 |
10,213 |
|
Totals |
£1,870,000 |
£2,895,386 |
|
(say £2,900,000) |
(3) Under the Act, the amount of the grant will no longer be fixed in advance either in total or as regards the sum allocated to each county, but will vary in accordance with the amounts required to give the new rate reliefs which, in turn, will depend, as regards the primary and supplementary allowances, on the different general rates struck by rating authorities throughout the country. The employment allowances element will depend on the number and amount of claims made before the statutory date (1st February).
(4) The new scale of allowances provided for in the 1946 Act is as follows:— (a) the primary allowance rate on land valuations up to £20 and on the first £20 of higher valuations will be three-fifths of the general rate struck in the rating area concerned; (b) the supplementary allowance on the part of the valuation above £20 will be one-fifth of the general rate; and (c) in addition to the supplementary relief on valuation above £20, an employment allowance of 10/- in the £ will be made on the excess of the valuation over £20 where men are employed full-time on the holding, subject to the limitation that the allowance shall not in any case exceed £6 10s. 0d. for each man at work on the holding throughout the preceding calendar year or the balance of the rates on the valuation over £20, whichever is the less.
Will the Parliamentary Secretary say whether it is intended that an amount will be available in respect of agricultural grants during the year 1946-47 additional to that available in the year 1945-46? Is there any increase in the total amount?
Yes, there is.
How much?
The total amount for 1945-46 was £1,870,000 and in 1946-47 the total is £2,895,386.
Is the increase due to an allowance in the Budget of last year?
Yes, £1,000,000.
It must be recognised that this contribution forms a substantial portion of the income of each local authority and it plays an important part in the finances of all local authorities. Local authorities utilise for their finances a system very different from that utilised by the national Exchequer. They derive their income mainly from rates which are collected in two half-yearly moieties. The difficulty which most county councils experience is that there is a lean period in the early part of the year, before the first moiety is collected. The financial year starts on the 1st April and from then until August or September there is very little collected in the way of rates. The result is that a local authority has either to accumulate a big credit balance to carry it over the first six months, or, alternatively, to borrow.
It would be desirable if this substantial grant was made available to local authorities earlier in the year, say, in the first quarter. It would assist them during the summer months. We must remember that it is during that period county councils have the biggest outlay; there is a big amount of work to be done on public roads and elsewhere, and the outlay of the various councils is usually very substantial during the early part of the year. It is unsatisfactory that during that particular period the finances of all county councils are in a precarious position. If these grants were made available to the local authorities during the first quarter of the year local administration would be helped and it would make for higher efficiency, because the county councils would have money in hand to carry them along, instead of having to struggle for the first three or four months upon a very small income.
No provision is made with regard to employment allowances for casual workers. During the spring and harvest, the busy months, it is necessary to employ a large number of workers on the land, a number in excess of those who are in permanent employment. I suggest the employer should be given the benefit of that casual employment. It is a very serious thing, particularly for large farmers and employers, to find that because they are unable to keep men all the year round in permanent employment they will lose a substantial portion of this grant. It is all the more serious for the farmer, in view of the fact that the basic rates are now much higher than in former years.
With regard to the points made by Deputy Cogan, it would not be possible to have the grants made available as he suggests, because of the fact that people can claim the employment allowance up to 1st February and, because claims may come in up to the very last date, the amount cannot be ascertained in advance. It is not quite correct to say that local authorities are not provided for. A percentage of the grant is made available in May in order to tide local authorities over the lean period until the rates begin to come in.
What is the percentage?
It is about one-sixth. With regard to the other point made by the Deputy, to have these grants made available in respect of casual employees, the whole purpose of these grants is to encourage farmers to keep their men permanently. The idea is that a farmer may be encouraged to keep an extra man, or, in the case of large farms, two extra men, constantly in employment rather than have casual employment during the busy period.
Will the Parliamentary Secretary consider reducing the valuation level from £20 to £15 for the abatement in respect of agricultural labour? Quite an appreciable amount of labour is employed on farms with valuations as low as £15. At the present time any farmer up to £20 valuation cannot claim an abatement in respect of a whole-time agricultural labourer— is that not the case?
Yes, but he gets the full three-fifths grant, the primary allowance, on the full £20 of his valuation, or on £15, if he has only a £15 valuation.
If there is any basis for a change, it would be upwards rather than the other way.
