I move:—
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £13,500 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending the 31st day of March, 1950, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Social Welfare.
This Supplementary Estimate is rendered necessary by the fact that it was necessary to recruit and employ increased staff in the operation and general administration of the Social Welfare Act of 1948 and the payment of overtime to staffs in consequence of the increased work which flowed from that Act. In addition, during the past year, the remuneration of clerks of old age pension committees was increased and it becomes necessary to meet that charge in this Supplementary Estimate. Likewise during the year, the field staff of the Department were engaged in additional travelling duties necessitated by the increased volume of work which flowed from the 1948 Social Welfare Act. All these increased activities, together with increased postal charges, which reflected the expanding work of the Department, represent the total sum required.
Supplementary Estimate agreed to.