I move:—
That a sum not exceeding £34,185,410 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, 1954, for certain public services, namely:—
£ |
||
1 |
President's Establishment |
2,300 |
2 |
Houses of the Oireachtas |
71,500 |
3 |
Department of the Taoiseach |
8,800 |
4 |
Central Statistics Office |
36,000 |
5 |
Comptroller and Auditor General |
11,640 |
6 |
Office of the Minister for Finance |
56,500 |
7 |
Office of the Revenue Commissioners |
570,000 |
8 |
Office of Public Works |
120,000 |
9 |
Public Works and Buildings |
1,000,000 |
10 |
Employment and Emergency Schemes |
228,400 |
11 |
Management of Government Stocks |
30,490 |
12 |
State Laboratory |
6,700 |
13 |
Civil Service Commission |
17,500 |
14 |
An Chomhairle Ealaíon |
6,500 |
15 |
Commissions and Special Inquiries |
3,500 |
16 |
Superannuation and Retired Allowances |
400,000 |
17 |
Rates on Government Property |
10,000 |
18 |
Secret Service |
2,500 |
19 |
Expenses under the Electoral Act and the Juries Act |
— |
20 |
Supplementary Agricultural Grants |
1,100,000 |
21 |
Law Charges |
37,000 |
22 |
Universities and Colleges |
270,000 |
23 |
Miscellaneous Expenses |
6,000 |
24 |
Stationery Office |
191,000 |
25 |
Valuation and Boundary Survey |
20,500 |
26 |
Ordanance Survey |
20,550 |
27 |
Agriculture |
1,841,000 |
28 |
Fisheries |
37,000 |
29 |
Office of the Minister for Justice |
26,400 |
30 |
Garda Síochána |
1,159,790 |
31 |
Prisons |
63,000 |
32 |
District Court |
27,620 |
33 |
Circuit Court |
38,000 |
34 |
Supreme Court and High Court of Justice |
29,630 |
35 |
Land Registry and Registry of Deeds |
29,830 |
36 |
Public Record Office |
2,960 |
37 |
Charitable Donations and Bequests |
1,500 |
38 |
Local Government |
1,300,600 |
39 |
Office of the Minister for Education |
114,000 |
40 |
Primary Education |
2,650,000 |
41 |
Secondary Education |
275,000 |
42 |
Technical Instruction |
350,000 |
43 |
Science and Art |
55,000 |
44 |
Reformatory and Industrial Schools |
120,000 |
45 |
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies |
20,000 |
46 |
National Gallery |
3,660 |
47 |
Lands |
814,840 |
48 |
Forestry |
407,000 |
49 |
Gaeltacht Services |
120,000 |
50 |
Industry and Commerce |
2,466,000 |
51 |
Transport and Marine Services |
820,000 |
52 |
Aviation and Meteorological Services |
156,270 |
53 |
Industrial and Commercial Property Registration Office |
7,700 |
54 |
Posts and Telegraphs |
2,476,000 |
55 |
Wireless Broadcasting |
169,000 |
56 |
Defence |
2,628,300 |
57 |
Army Pensions |
428,860 |
58 |
External Affairs |
136,150 |
59 |
International Co-operation |
19,300 |
60 |
Office of the Minister for Social Welfare |
195,850 |
61 |
Social Insurance |
657,890 |
62 |
Social Assistance |
5,977,000 |
63 |
Health |
4,185,000 |
64 |
Oifig an Ard-Chláraitheora |
6,880 |
65 |
Dundrum Asylum |
13,500 |
66 |
Oifig na Gaeltachta agus na gCeantar gCúng |
2,500 |
67 |
Tourism |
125,000 |
TOTAL |
£34,185,410 |
|
The Vote on Account is an annual feature of our financial procedure. Both this Vote and the Central Fund Bill which gives it statutory confirmation must be passed before the beginning of the new financial year. The Vote on Account, as its name implies, is a provision on account, usually a four months' provision, towards meeting expenditure on Supply Services in the new financial year. It is the practice to obtain by means of the Vote on Account enough money to enable the public services to be carried on during the period from 1st April to 31st July, in which month the Appropriation Act is usually passed. As Deputies are aware the Dáil grants supply only for the service of a particular financial year and, consequently, moneys granted by the Central Fund and Appropriation Acts are available only for use in the year in which they are voted. If there were, for instance, a surplus on the Votes for the current year, that surplus could not be carried over into 1953-54. It would have to be surrendered and would not be available to defray expenditure in the next financial year. In order, therefore, that Government services should not be brought to a standstill at the close of business on 31st of the present month, it is necessary by a Vote on Account for Dáil Éireann to grant a sufficient sum to cover expenditure on Supply Services in 1953-54 until such time, at least, as the Estimates for that year have been discussed and approved by the Dáil.
It is, as Deputies are aware, customary to provide in the Vote on Account for a sum approximating to one-third of the total of the Estimates. This proportion is subject to variation in the case of particular Estimates depending on whether the payments arising on them are expected to be heavier or lighter in the part of the year covered by the Vote. The amount asked for in this year's Vote onAccount is, as stated in the Resolution, £34,185,410.
Deputies have no doubt noted that the net total of the Estimates for the Supply Services for the coming year is £100,548,106, representing an increase of £5,676,483 on the figure published in the Volume of Estimates for 1952-53. I shall mention later how this increase arises. Meanwhile, however, regard should be had to the alterations which were made in the 1952-53 figure in the 1952 Budget. It will be recalled that this Budget provided first of all for heavy extra expenditure on social welfare services, which was offset by savings on food subsidies. Allowing for these changes, but ignoring the sum of £1,000,000 which was also included to cover unspecified Supplementary Estimates, the net figure for the Supply Services in 1952-53 was £93,954,000; so that the increased sum required to pay for these services in 1953-54 is, accordingly, £6,594,000.
The Vote on Account, founded as it is on the detailed Estimates of public expenditure set out in the Volume of Estimates, presents a statistical survey of public policy, as formulated by successive Governments and endorsed by Dáil Éireann. The policy finds expression to a large extent in voted public expenditure, the details of which are shown in the Volume. As Minister for Finance, being not only a member of Dáil Éireann and of the Government but also the custodian of the public purse, I find myself in a difficult position when I come to speak on the Vote on Account. I certainly cannot approach the question with the single-minded irresponsibility of certain Private Deputies.