Vol. 119 No. 13
I move:—
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £166,700 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending the 31st day of March, 1950, for Expenditure in respect of Public Buildings; for the Maintenance of certain Parks and Public Works; and for the Execution and Maintenance of Drainage and other Engineering Works.
This Supplementary Estimate provides for meeting increased expenditure in respect of certain services included in the Vote for Public Works. and Buildings and a deficiency in the estimated amount of Appropriations-in-Aid, offset to some extent by savings on other services. The gross additional expenditure is estimated at £195,690, the deficiency in receipts at £6,000 and the savings on other sub-heads at £34,990, leaving a net shortage of £166,700 for which the Supplementary Estimate will require to be voted.
Of the gross shortage the greater part, £115,000, is in respect of sub-head B—New Works, Alterations and Additions. This sub-head was the subject of a previous Supplementary Estimate passed by the Dáil on the 15th December, 1949. As I explained on that occasion this is a sub-head which in most years has shown a saving as a result of sundry unforeseen circumstances which tend to retard or suspend some of the numerous individual works covered by the sub-head, and each year allowance is made for this factor by way of a deduction from the gross total of the provision for the individual works. In the original Estimate for this year a deduction of £210,385 was made from the gross Estimate of £810,385 for sub-head B, reducing the provision to a net sum of £600,000, this being the amount suggested by experience as likely to be spent.
As already indicated to the Dáil this calculation was upset by the more rapid progress made with the programme due to such matters as exceptionally fine weather and the easier supply of materials. Provision was made by Supplementary Estimate to meet an additional expenditure of £125,000 on the sub-head, but owing to the largely unpredictable effect of the factors mentioned it has been found that this sum will not suffice to meet the expenditure now anticipated in the current year. It is necessary to ask for a further provision of £115,000 of which the greater part, £105,000 is in respect of grants for the building or improvement of national schools. The balance of £10,000 is apportionable over the numerous works comprising the sub-head.
Under sub-head A, which is largely a contingency provision, a shortage of £5,000 is anticipated consequent on an unforeseen expenditure of about £18,000 on the purchase of new premises for the Legation at Washington.
Under sub-head C—Maintenance and Supplies and sub-head D (1)—Furniture, Fittings and Utensils, additional sums of £20,000 and £15,000, respectively, are required owing to increased demands generally and, in the case of premises abroad, to devaluation. The latter factor, together with changes in rental terms and increased rates, accounts also for the additional sum of £17,000 required under sub-head E— Rents, Rates, etc.
The provision of £2,500 under sub-head D (2)—Central Furniture Stores —is in respect of unforeseen bulk purchases.
The additional sum of £1,190 required under sub-head J (4)—River Fergus Drainage—is to cover the outstanding balance of payments on foot of the State contribution of £2,500 towards the cost of the acquisition of lands by the Clare County Council. We had been given to understand that this amount would have been payable before the 31st March, 1949, but it is now necessary to provide for payment maturing in the present financial year.
Under sub-head K (3)—Central Engineering Workshop and Stores—it is necessary to ask for an additional sum of £20,000. As Deputies are aware the gross provision in this sub-head each year is offset by amounts chargeable to other sub-heads, for example, to sub-head J (2)—Arterial Drainage Construction Works and sub-head K (2) —Maintenance of Engineering Plant and Machinery. The amounts thus chargeable are expected to be less than was anticipated when the original Estimate was made. There will be corresponding savings on the sub-heads mentioned.
There will be a deficiency of £6,000 in the amount of receipts from rents and fines as the outcome of a property transaction which was expected to realise a substantial fine, is now doubtful.
I should like to get a little additional information from the Parliamentary Secretary on one or two of the sub-heads. On sub-head E— Rents, Rates, etc.—there is an increase of £17,000. I should like to know the reason for that. Is it due to increases in this country or to Legations abroad or to a combination of both? I observe that there is an additional sum of £1,190 required in connection with the Fergus Drainage Act. I should like to know why it was that the original sum was only £110, and why there should be this jump of £1,190? Surely, it should have been possible to foresee, when the original Estimate was being prepared, that this larger sum would be required in accordance with the provisions of the Act. Under sub-head B, there is provision for an expenditure of £105,000 on schools. I think no one in the House will quarrel with that. The more expenditure there is on that sub-head the better.
The total additional sum required is £115,000.
I agree, but the £105,000 is expressly earmarked for schools. I think every Deputy will agree with that, because we all know that a lot of our schools are in a very bad condition, and that they need to be put into a proper state of repair so as to make them suitable for the children.
I did not quite catch the Parliamentary Secretary's explanation on sub-head D (1)—Furniture, Fittings and Utensils—but I see that the additional sum required is £15,000. I should like to know for what purpose this furniture is to be used. It seems a large sum. I should also like to have some information on the £10,000 which the Parliamentary Secretary told us would be spent on other works. Will he tell us what these works are?
I want to ask the Parliamentary Secretary a question with regard to the building of schools where, say, a question arises as to title to the site. I have in mind a case which has arisen in my constituency. The materials—a good part of them— required have been actually placed on the site. Work on the building was about to commence when a question of title to the site was raised by an adjoining landowner. I am not suggesting that the Board of Works is to blame in any way for what has happened, but I do want to bring to the attention of the Parliamentary Secretary that the job has been suspended for a very long time, and, apparently, nobody is in a position to take the initiative in getting whatever difficulty has arisen resolved.
Where a matter of that sort arises, where it has come to the point of building and the Board of Works is definitely brought into it, I want to suggest to the Parliamentary Secretary that the Board of Works might use their good offices to see that whoever is responsible for a difficulty of that kind would be got down to the job of trying to bring about a settlement.
As regards the £10,000 referred to by Deputy Smith, that is in respect of numerous other works under the same sub-head. As to the rents and rates, in some cases that is due to an increase in rents and rates and in other cases it is due to devaluation.
I wanted to know was it in respect of rents and rates in this country or in respect of obligations abroad or a combination of both.
A combination of both.
What was the percentage?
I cannot give you that.
Will you explain about the furniture and fittings under sub-head D (1)? That seems a very large sum and there is not an adequate explanation of it here.
Of course abroad, owing to devaluation, these cost more than we anticipated. The Deputy will agree that that is the cause of it. There were also increases in rents and rates as well as transfers of staff.
Would transfers of staff come under the heading of furniture, fittings and utensils?
It would.
Is this entirely due to the situation abroad, or is it partly due to the situation abroad and partly to some situation at home?
Both.
This is a large sum of money and all the information we have got here is that the additional sum required is £15,000. When I turn over to the other side of the Estimate for an explanation as to how this amount is arrived at and where these are required, all the information I get is, "Additional sum required to meet increases in cost of furniture, fittings and utensils." I want to know where these were required, whether it was in the Legation in Washington or some other place.
Most of it is for furniture for Legations abroad and the remainder is in connection with the transfer of staff at home.
Is the total amount due to the altered situation abroad?
No.
What part of it is due to the situation abroad and what part to furniture, fittings and utensils required at home?
I am unable to give precise figures for the division of the sub-heads to which I referred. Taking the three together, the approximate figure would be £4,500.
Out of £15,000?
Yes.
And the balance is being spent at home?
Yes.
Therefore, £11,000 is being asked for in respect of furniture, fittings and utensils for buildings at home. What are these buildings?
Some are for the Department of Industry and Commerce and some are for the Land Commission.
I can understand the Parliamentary Secretary might not be able to give the information asked for, but I must say that I regard the information I have got as entirely unsatisfactory. This is a large sum for what seems to be a rather small item. The original Estimate was around £34,000 and now we are asked for an additional £15,000 and we are told that £4,000 of it is in respect of changes which took place abroad as a result of devaluation. I should like to be told whether it is in respect of our office in America or in some other country that this £4,000 is being spent. I think the House is entitled to an explanation as to where this additional £11,000 is being spent at home for furniture, fittings and utensils.
This is accounted for by movements of staff in the Land Commission and in the Department of Industry and Commerce. That is why we are responsible for it. Of course, it all comes before the Comptroller and Auditor-General. If the Deputy has any doubt about it, we can fully account for it.
I do not know what the Government expect us to do in regard to this. We have a duty to discharge when the approval of the House is being sought for the spending of money. That approval will be granted provided we get what I regard as proper information. We have from time to time reports as to alterations and changes which are being made in Government buildings and offices designed for the accommodation of Ministers. If any of this sum is being spent in the Department of External Affairs, the Department of Industry and Commerce, the Department of Local Government or the Department of Health for the additional accommodation of Ministers, for the improvement of their offices and for their better equipment so far as furniture is concerned, we are entitled to be told where the additional furniture, fittings and utensils are going.
I must say that on a Supplementary Estimate of this kind, though I had not adverted to this fact when coming into the House, it is scarcely fair to ask me to allow it to pass without a division because of the lack of information on the matter. On the basis of the information obtained from the Parliamentary Secretary, I could not in conscience allow the Estimate to pass without challenging a division.
