I move:—
That a sum not exceeding £24,143,298 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, 1949, for certain public services, namely:—
£ |
||
1 |
President's Establishment |
1,800 |
2 |
Houses of the Oireachtas |
59,400 |
3 |
Department of the Taoiseach |
6,600 |
4 |
Comptroller and Auditor-General |
9,517 |
5 |
Office of the Minister for Finance |
38,600 |
6 |
Office of the Revenue Commissioners |
418,000 |
7 |
Old Age Pensions |
1,709,600 |
8 |
Management of Government Stocks |
22,100 |
9 |
Office of Public Works |
63,000 |
10 |
Public Works and Buildings |
432,000 |
11 |
Employment and Emergency Schemes |
400,000 |
12 |
State Laboratory |
4,200 |
13 |
Civil Service Commission |
14,400 |
14 |
Irish Tourist Board |
12,000 |
15 |
Commissions and Special Inquiries |
4,300 |
16 |
Superannuation and Retired Allowances |
282,000 |
17 |
Rates on Government Property |
70,000 |
18 |
Secret Service |
5,000 |
19 |
Expenses under the Electoral Act and the Juries Act |
Nil |
20 |
Miscellaneous Expenses |
5,000 |
21 |
Stationery and Printing |
109,000 |
22 |
Valuation and Boundary Survey |
14,480 |
23 |
Ordnance Survey |
14,830 |
24 |
Supplementary Agricultural Grants |
850,000 |
25 |
Law Charges |
31,500 |
26 |
Universities and Colleges |
153,600 |
27 |
Widows' and Orphans' Pensions |
320,000 |
28 |
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies |
18,000 |
29 |
Agriculture |
794,000 |
30 |
Agricultural Produce Subsidies |
790,000 |
31 |
Fisheries |
46,700 |
32 |
Office of the Minister for Justice |
22,100 |
33 |
Garda Síochána |
972,000 |
34 |
Prisons |
55,990 |
35 |
District Court |
21,980 |
36 |
Circuit Court |
28,240 |
37 |
Supreme Court and High Court of Justice |
23,600 |
38 |
Land Registry and Registry of Deeds |
21,400 |
39 |
Public Record Office |
2,347 |
40 |
Charitable Donations and Bequests |
1,350 |
41 |
Local Government |
480,000 |
42 |
General Register Office |
5,317 |
43 |
Dundrum Asylum |
9,000 |
44 |
National Health Insurance |
270,800 |
45 |
Office of the Minister for Education |
90,000 |
46 |
Primary Education |
2,000,000 |
47 |
Secondary Education |
200,000 |
48 |
Technical Instruction |
200,000 |
49 |
Science and Art |
36,000 |
50 |
Reformatory and Industrial Schools |
75,000 |
51 |
National Gallery |
4,700 |
52 |
Lands |
633,961 |
53 |
Forestry |
92,000 |
54 |
Gaeltacht Services |
90,000 |
55 |
Industry and Commerce |
5,617,460 |
56 |
Aviation and Meteorological Services |
550,000 |
57 |
Children's Allowances |
716,600 |
58 |
Transport and Marine Services |
72,220 |
59 |
Unemployment Insurance and Unemployment Assistance |
393,120 |
60 |
Industrial and Commercial Property Registration Office |
5,700 |
61 |
Posts and Telegraphs |
1,549,000 |
62 |
Wireless Broadcasting |
82,000 |
63 |
Defence |
1,510,820 |
64 |
Army Pensions |
258,366 |
65 |
External Affairs |
58,000 |
66 |
Office of the Minister for Social Welfare |
223,000 |
67 |
Miscellaneous Social Welfare Services |
123,800 |
68 |
Health |
740,000 |
69 |
Damage to Property (Neutrality) Compensation |
3,700 |
70 |
Personal Injuries (Civilians) Compensation |
800 |
71 |
Athletics |
8,300 |
72 |
Alleviation of Distress |
195,000 |
73 |
Repayment of Trade Loans Advances |
Nil |
— |
Repayment to Contingency Fund |
Nil |
TOTAL |
£24,143,298 |
|
This Vote is generally taken at this time of the year. It is essential that it should be taken about this time. The public services are continuing services, and it is necessary to provide money to maintain them during the period when the Estimates for public services are discussed in detail. It is not necessary at this period to have a detailed discussion, and the Estimates are not ordinarily discussed at this time. The detailed discussion generally lasts for four months of the year. For that reason the moneys are taken at this time and are granted by the House ordinarily to cover about one-third of the amount set down as being likely to be spent during the year.
The Book of Estimates has been sent to Deputies, together with a White Paper which sets out the different items as they are set out on the Order Paper. The total sum required as appearing on the face of this book is the rather staggering one of £70,520,477. Deputies will, see a comparison made with the previous year. They will notice the comparison between the £70,500,000 odd required for this year and the moneys voted for the financial year that is just ending, which totalled £64,184,402. There is, therefore, an increase of £6,336,075 on the provision as shown in the Book of Estimates for the previous year.
But that total is, of course, swollen by the Supplementary Estimates passed during the year. They amounted to £9,928,259. If those Supplementary Estimates were excluded, the comparison I would have to make would be between the £70,500,000 odd contemplated for the coming year and the sum lessened by the Supplementary Estimates, which would then be £16,264,334 less than what is now here. In other words, if I omit the Supplementary Estimates that came in during the financial year just ending, the present book on its face shows an increase of £16,250,000.
There is a difference, as between the moneys actually voted and the moneys sought to be provided by the late administration for the coming year, of £6? million. The greater part comes from the Vote for Industry and Commerce, which is up by £4,450,000. Of that sum £3,836,805 is due to extra provision for food subsidies. There are other substantial increases. The Agricultural Grant is up by over £500,000; Health has increased by £712,000. There is a decrease in the Vote for Alleviation of Distress. The decrease amounts to £925,010. That decrease is there because it was not possible to send foodstuffs and other things abroad, as had at first been contemplated. In addition, there is a decrease of £193,000 odd in the Vote for Unemployment Insurance and Unemployment Assistance. More than half the Votes are up. There are decreases to a small extent in certain other Votes, and a few show no change.
When issuing the Book of Estimates this year I caused to be sent to Deputies a slip with information that Deputies will have had for themselves, but I thought it necessary to stress that this particular book was with the printer at the time this Government was formed. It had passed the scrutiny of the various Government Departments and the Government as a whole. It had been carefully scrutinised and had received the assent of the various Departments and the Minister for Finance. It then took the shape in which Deputies now have it, with this amazing total of £70,500,000 to be spent.
It is quite clear that no Minister of the present Government has had time to examine the details of the Estimates for which he has to stand responsible before the House. I disclaim any responsibility for the book, either in respect of its amount or the form in which it appears. I did intimate that inquiries were being made, and so far I have secured the acceptance by my colleagues of the general proposal that economies should be sought over the widest possible field. We are endeavouring to get these economies, and we hope to secure substantial ones.
I have described the Estimate as amazing. I should apply the further terms to it—prodigious and prodigal. When the previous Ministers the last time found themselves with an addition of some £16,000,000 as compared with the previous book, it apparently never occurred to them that it was possible to subtract anything from any of the several headings. The whole idea appeared to be a complacent system of accepting increases: of not searching out for any possible decreases and of securing them from time to time. The attitude of the present Government towards this booklet, and towards Government expenditure generally, may be described in this way, that we want, first of all, to ensure retrenchment over as wide a field as possible. We are looking for economies in public expenditure, save where that expenditure is going to be reproductive or where it is socially desirable. Our second objective is to reduce the cost of living. A factor in the heavy burden of the cost of living which people have had to submit to for many years past, is the amazing increase in the cost of Government spending. Therefore, we hope if we can reduce public expenditure to do something to ease the burden on the masses of the community. Our third objective is to transform some of this wasteful expenditure and non-productive and, possibly, unnecessary services, over to the field of production, to speed up production, which has been running at a very low level, to as high a point as possible in a limited number of years.
I would point out that this booklet represents the endeavours of the last Government over 16 years. It will not be easy to break up all this expenditure in a very short time, but I do hope when I come before the House in about six weeks' time with proposals for the Budget to be able to show the preliminaries we have taken to effect our main object. We hope to be able to announce that certain economies have been discovered, and that we are going to put these into effect, as well as to indicate that we are searching for, and hope to find, further economies during the course of the year, and if it is possible at the same time to make provision for needy people to do that. For the rest, our endeavours will be towards the spending of money on production. That is likely to give better aid to the people in the way of production. We shall endeavour to break up this enormous bulk of expenditure that has grown so steadily year by year until now it has reached this enormous sum which, I think, in the last two or three days, has rather stupefied the great masses of the people.
I cannot add anything in the way of detail on the Estimates. I have not had the time to examine into them. I can tell the House that my colleagues are all willingly co-operating in the search for economies, but they could not assist the House by telling Deputies at the moment what their attitude is to the various heads of expenditure. I do not think that any individual Minister could hold himself responsible here for the particular sums of money set out in the different Estimates. All he could do would be to offer the booklet to the House in the way in which it was presented to him. The figure is one which was arrived at by the last Government and apparently they thought the figure is one that the populace could bear. In the last three weeks we have not been able to take any steps towards a reduction in that figure. If Deputies want to discuss the Estimates, they do so in this way that in the main they are not accepting them, that they have been foisted on them, and refuse responsibility for building them up.