Vol. 151 No. 7
I move:—
That a sum not exceeding £2,908,170 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1956, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Local Government, including Grants to Local Authorities, Grants and other Expenses in connection with Housing, and Miscellaneous Grants.
Notice taken that 20 Deputies were not present; House counted and 20 Deputies being present,
The next amount provided for in the Vote is £4,698,170 and represents a net decrease of £227,430 on the provision made in the financial year 1954-55. There are no individual items of increase or decrease in the several sub-heads of the Vote which call for special mention except the increase of £250,000 in sub-head I (2) in respect of grants to private persons, public utility societies and other bodies for the erection and reconstruction of houses. The total provision now being made under this head is £2,250,000, and later in my speech I will review the remarkable increase in housing activity represented by this figure.
The housing output of local authorities for the last financial year was 5,265 dwellings as compared with 5,643 dwellings completed in the financial year 1953-54.
At the 31st March, 1955, 18 county councils and 24 urban authorities had satisfied or were approaching the satisfaction of the needs on which their post-war housing programmes were formulated. The figures of completions and housing schemes in progress or at tender at that date indicated the satisfaction of 75 per cent. of the 1947 housing needs in urban areas outside Dublin and 96 per cent. of the corresponding figure for rural areas. Nevertheless, there has been no substantial decrease in the overall figures of completions because of a considerable improvement in housing progress in Dublin City where 1,922 houses were completed in the year as against a total of 1,353 houses in the preceding financial year.
In one or two areas, housing progress over the years has not been as good as that achieved generally and special attention is being given to these areas. Apart from these exceptional cases, the only areas in which there may be some disposition to slow down the completion of the housing programmes are a few of the smaller and more economically depressed urban districts. In some of these towns the discontinuance of housing activity would, I am afraid, leave unattended the housing requirements of those persons who are really most in need of rehousing as they are the poorest sections who have been unable to pay the rents for the normal type of house built in such places up to the present.
In view of the difficult financial position facing these councils and, on the other hand, in view of the permanent necessity for rehousing those classes to which I have referred, I am prepared to consider sympathetically any reasonable proposals for the building of small houses to meet the needs of the smaller families in need of rehousing and of those families in existing council houses who by reason of depletion in their numbers could now be suitably accommodated in smaller houses. The provision of varied accommodation in council housing estates and the adjustment of tenancies to meet family needs is an ideal principle of housing management for any housing authority to adopt but, in the case of those areas to which I have referred, where housing expenditure represents a disproportionately high burden on the local rates, it is a principle that should be put into practice unhesitantly to as wide an extent as possible.
I have already referred to the encouraging increase in the Dublin Corporation housing output. I have reason to believe that that position will be maintained in 1955-56 and that the average figure of housing output over the last six or seven years approaching 2,000 dwellings will be attained. I am, however, unable to visualise any spectacular increases in the present rate of progress, such as was attained for example in the year 1950-51 when over 2,500 dwellings were completed. In those years the corporation had available a number of fully developed sites on which building work could be started without delay and by far the greater proportion of the resources of the building industry was available for local authority housing.
In more recent years the building of houses has caught up with the reserves of sites and moreover the city drainage system has been taxed to capacity. Thus the site position and the drainage position have both created the need for a new main drainage scheme on the northern periphery of the city—the Finglas-Raheny-Howth scheme which is at present in progress. The building of cottages to rehouse families on the fringes of the city in the years to come will largely depend on the completion of that scheme and the development of the areas which its completion will open up for building development.
Redevelopment of the central city area has been adopted as a policy by the corporation. The implementation of that policy will involve a number of complicated legal, technical and planning problems, but I can assure the corporation that any assistance that I can give them in the solution of these problems will be readily forthcoming.
In the other county boroughs the outlook as regards future housing output is encouraging. The actual number of dwellings completed by Cork Corporation in 1954-55 was 317 as compared with 229 in 1953-54. Estimated completions in the two succeeding financial years are, I understand, 477 and 502. If the Cork Corporation live up to these estimates they will certainly be forging ahead towards the solution of a housing position which a few years ago was the subject of melancholy comment by the local public representatives of all Parties. In Limerick and Waterford a temporary lowering in the rates of completion is expected to be followed by a substantial increase in output in the years 1955-56 and 1956-57.
My Department has continued to exercise the utmost vigilance in an endeavour to reduce the level of housing costs. The question of sanctioning the acceptance of unreasonably high tenders is submitted to me whenever it arises and investigations are made of the factors responsible for high costs. Very frequently the action taken results in reductions in the contract sums.
I have already drawn attention to the substantial increase for private housing as the only outstanding variation in the individual items in this Vote. I have ample evidence of a tendency towards greatly increased activity by private persons in the building of houses and, still more, in the reconstruction and enlargement of old houses. The number of new house grants allocated in 1954-55 was 6,030 as against 5,498 in the preceding year. Reconstruction grants numbered 7,706 as against 7,110 for 1953-54. The number of reconstruction grants allocated is the highest on record as is also the combined total of new house and reconstruction grants.
Taking the housing picture as a whole I am very pleased to be able to say that the total number of new houses built and reconstructed during the year by local authorities and private persons assisted by State grants was 14,780 as compared with 14,818 in the previous year. The new houses amounted to 10,123 as compared with 10,750, and reconstructions 4,657 as compared with 4,068 in 1953-54.
My review of housing would not be complete if I were to conclude with the record of construction by local authorities and construction and reconstruction by private persons. I would like to go further and appeal to housing authorities to devote more attention to their powers and duties in seeing that the general stock of houses in their areas is maintained in a consistently good condition. They have ample power to take action in regard to sub-standard houses either by the serving of notices on the landlords, encouragement of the tenants to proceed with repairs or the carrying out of reconstruction work themselves.
I would also like to refer to the local authorities' own housing property, particularly the older houses which lack modern amenities. I appreciate that the housing authorities cannot be expected to carry out all the necessary improvements to these houses at the cost of the rate, but, as the rents are extremely low, I have no doubt that tenants generally would be willing to meet the cost of the improvements. On this general subject of older houses, whether privately or municipally owned, the time is opportune for a campaign to preserve and improve the national stock of dwellings, particularly in those areas where the pressure to clear the arrears of new housing needs is gradually being relaxed.
In the last financial year work was commenced on 55 waterworks and sewerage schemes while 65 schemes were completed within the year. The schemes in progress at the beginning of the present financial year are estimated to involve a total cost of about £4,750,000. The largest of these is the North Dublin drainage scheme which has been in progress for the past three years and will take about two more years to complete at an estimated cost of over £1,800,000. In my review of housing I have already referred to the importance of this scheme in making available for housing development and other purposes much land which cannot be used for these purposes until the scheme has been completed. The laying of the intercepting sewer between Finglas and Raheny has been practically finished and the pressure culvert on the foreshore at Sutton is being constructed under four separate contracts.
I am glad to be able to report that work on the high level section of the North Dublin regional water supply scheme has been virtually completed and consumers in the Blanchardstown and Castleknock areas are already receiving their water supplies from the new Ballycoolan reservoir. The low level section of the scheme which is intended to serve the coastal areas has been delayed by inability to secure a reservoir site at Malahide by agreement. Apart from this difficulty other obstacles as regards the supply by the Dublin Corporation of water for county council areas have been removed. The question of land acquisition is one in which I cannot interfere but the local authority has the promise of my cooperation at any stage at which I can be of assistance to them.
Work is in progress on the construction of the Dún Laoghaire main drainage scheme and on two sections of a joint drainage scheme being promoted by Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire Corporation to serve the Foxrock-Killiney district. Other regional schemes which I may mention as making satisfactory progress are water supply schemes for Passage West and district, three water supply schemes in County Kildare and a similar scheme for the Lismore-Cappoquin-Ballyduff area, County Waterford.
In some areas there is a growing tendency to promote regional schemes as being in the opinion of the sanitary authorities the best method of securing adequate and constant supplies for a number of towns and villages in reasonable proximity to each other and for the intervening rural areas. In a number of cases I have met the local representatives and the sponsors of these schemes and I have not discouraged their being planned and undertaken provided that the potential benefits in public health and local amenities may show a fair return for the expenditure. The greater part of the rural areas in this country, however, comprise farms whose owners live in isolated houses with little or no tendency to group into villages. Thus the extension of public piped water supplies, whether by regional or other schemes, to all such holdings is a practical impossibility. In these circumstances I hope that we will see an increasing use made of the special grants available for the provision and installation of private water supplies and sewerage services in dwelling houses where public sanitary systems are not in operation.
Another promising factor to assist the provision of localised water supplies will be rural electrification. Piped water is one of the many amenities and services which may be installed with the aid of electric pumps and other appliances. Apart from the assistance which electricity offers to private persons wishing to improve the amenities of their household, local authorities may well look to its aid for the provision of small, easily-run, public waterworks schemes designed to serve villages and groups of cottages and in appropriate cases to eliminate the hand-worked pump from schemes involving the provision of wells and pumps.
In the course of visits to the various local authority areas last summer and on the occasion of numerous deputations from county council areas attending before me, in regard to roads, the need for a more extensive programme to improve our county road system was strongly presented to my mind. I promised the most sympathetic attention possible to these representations and in fulfilment of that promise when I came to determine the allocations from the Road Fund for the present financial year I increased the grant for county road improvement from £1,700,000 to £2,200,000. The corresponding grant for main road improvement I reduced from £1,400,000 to £1,200,000.
I have also allocated a sum of £150,000 by way of grants towards the replacement of a considerable number of bridges which have been proved structurally defective and a further sum of £400,000 for the continuation of the scheme for the improvement of tourists roads in the Gaeltacht and congested areas. The usual 40 per cent. grant is being made to county councils in recoupment of part of the expenditure on main road upkeep. A sum of £150,000 has been allocated to the county borough corporations and the corporation of Dún Laoire for road works in their areas.
In notifying these allocations the usual recommendation was issued to road authorities that they should continue and, if possible increase, the provision for maintaining their roads; otherwise the capital already invested in their improvement would rapidly depreciate.
I have also recommended local authorities to consider now the planning of county road improvements to take in a wider range of roads than that contemplated in the county council road improvement plan recommended a few years ago. This is possible and necessary owing to the progress already made with the execution of the original plan and owing to the extra moneys which are now being made available for county roads. My engineering advisers are co-operating with the county engineers in an effort to secure a sound and at the same time an economic technical basis for the treatment of county roads. A number of county councils are at present conducting experiments on these lines.
It is not necessary for me to go into in any detail here the important matter of road traffic. I have already explained when the Local Government Bill, 1954, was before the House that new powers are required to enable adequate regulations to be made prescribing uniform road signs. Now that that Bill has been passed, consideration is being given by tests and otherwise to determine the best possible types of signs that can be introduced in due course.
The county rate collection continues to be very satisfactory. At the 31st March last 97.5 per cent. of collectors' warrants had been accounted for as compared with 97.7 per cent. in the previous year.
The increasing levels which local expenditure is attaining scarcely need to be brought to the notice of members of the House, as Deputies, whether in the capacity of local representatives or as private ratepayers, will be aware that local expenditure by the greater number of local authorities is still on the increase. During the past financial year the total revenue expenditure of local authorities, excluding vocational education committees, committees of agriculture and harbour authorities, was approximately £44.3 million. The figure for the present financial year has been estimated at £49.2 million. These figures represent gross expenditure. The local authorities are far from being in the position of being required to bear the burden entirely from rates. Of the £44.3 million the State contributed almost £20 million by way of grants and will be paying a further £1.5 million in 1955-56. Taking into account other sources of local revenue, the net amounts falling on local rates in these two years are estimated at £17.25 million and £18.5 million respectively.
It will be seen, therefore, that the State is actually contributing more towards the cost of local services than the local authorities themselves are levying by way of rates. Furthermore, the increases in the rates which actually have taken place must be to some extent discounted by the fall in the value of money since pre-war times. Regard must also be had to the improved standards of service and the additional services now being provided by the local authorities. While I do not wish to see any diminution in these services or standards, I am pressing for such reductions in expenditure as can be achieved by the introduction of more efficient, and the elimination of wasteful or overlapping, methods of work. Some of my objectives could not be fully achieved except by the aid of amending legislation. The Local Government Act, 1955, contains certain provisions to this end and further special legislation will be introduced, if necessary.
The library survey conducted by persons engaged for the purpose by An Cómhairle Leabharlanna has been completed and I have received certain recommendations from An Cómhairle in regard to the future of the county library services. A further series of recommendations will be submitted in regard to the municipal library services.
A record number of applications was received during the year for appointment as official contractors under the Local Authorities (Combined Purchaseing) Act, 1925. With one or two exceptions the contractors had no difficulty in meeting the requirements of the local authorities and the steady supply position throughout the year appeared to represent an improvement in and a stabilisation of the sources of supply. The list of commodities for which contractors are appointed has been further increased and there has also been a welcome increase in the number of provincial contractors appointed. Practically every county in the State is now represented in the list of official contractors. The value of orders placed with the contractors has increased by nearly £1,500,000 from £1,260,000 to £2,740,000 in the past seven years.
Deputies will be aware that the monumental textbook on local government law by Mr. H.A. Street has, after many difficulties, at last been published.
The preparatory work of consolidation is well advanced in the more important general local government codes and further work on these sections is now a matter for the statute law reform and consolidation office. The preparatory work on two other codes is proceeding in the Department while, in the case of the remainder, the preparatory work has received a sad interruption by the death of Mr. John Collins, former secretary of the Department, who had already done pioneer work on the sections already prepared and who had been retained to deal with this particular section. I am informed that Mr. Collins' work has been of a most thorough and comprehensive character and it is but right that I should pay this tribute to his memory. The work is continuing to progress within the limits of time that can be devoted to it by the staff of the Department.
In connection with this Estimate, we, on this side of the House, accept the Minister's statement and the general report of the progress he has made. I have noted that in the course of his remarks he has not attempted to introduce a highly political flavour into his speech. But, as the local elections are proceeding at the present time, we shall have to use this occasion in order to deal with matters which relate to the Minister's Department and to his Estimate. We hope, too, that, since the Minister has shown some self-restraint in talking about his Department, his supporters will also be induced to show the same restraint.
And the Opposition, too, I hope.
I hope so. The Minister has mentioned the increase that has taken place in the rates and the fact that rates have now become a very heavy burden on the community. They are particularly heavy in relation to a great number of people in Dublin City; they also lie heavily on other sections of the community.
A great many of the Minister's supporters are going around the country at the present time accusing this side of the House of being responsible for the rate struck this year. They are accusing us of being responsible although, as the House well knows, a very high proportion of the rates struck is of a mandatory character and must be struck in any event. About 90 per cent. of all the moneys spent by local authorities is under the direct control and surveillance of the Minister for Local Government. Yet, this allegation is being made, although in the vast majority of country county councils both the Fine Gael and the Fianna Fáil members are agreed, at the end of a long discussion on their estimates, as to what the official rate should be.
But, of course, so is the same kind of propaganda going on as proceeded during the general election campaign— the Fianna Fáil Party being made responsible for the high cost of Government, when, in fact, in cases of the striking of these rates it was frequently a matter of unanimous consent of all the Parties. And so those who accused this side of the House of being responsible for high rates during the present financial year and the last financial year must be told that the Minister for Local Government has shown no intimation of his desire to reduce the costs as far as his Department is concerned. He apparently agrees that the many services should continue at high pressure with an inevitable reflection upon the rates, no matter what the grants are from the Central Fund.
In general, the Minister has taken no steps in relief of rates. He has intimated no intention of bringing in legislation governing the question of grants to local authorities; he has failed to live up to some of the implied promises made during the general election and before the general election, that if the present Government were returned to office there should be immediate and substantial reliefs in the rates. The Minister began his address with an account of the housing activity in the last year and I should like to congratulate the Minister on not implying that the fact of his being made Minister was responsible for the recovery in the rate of housing, which had slightly slowed down during the period of inflation, and that he did not attempt to take credit for the satisfactory number of houses built or reconstructed during the last financial year. As the Minister may well know though, some of his supporters may make use of that fact during the local elections. I should like to point out, therefore, that the houses built in the year ending 31st March, 1955, were designed or considered and that the money for them was largely found during the period of office of the Fianna Fáil Government.
I should not have mentioned that were it not for the fact that when I go down the country on Sunday, as, I am sure, will the Minister himself, I shall hear from the hustings speeches made by people already taking credit for such things as the high prices of cattle on the British market. They are also likely to take credit for the statement of the Minister that more houses were reconstructed during the last financial year. We on this side of the House have got to counter that propaganda as best we can.
In connection with housing I should like to ask the Minister whether he believes that enough is being done in the country in general and in Dublin in particular for our young married couples. I am quite aware that there is a social and moral obligation on us to the limit of our resources to make houses available for persons with big family responsibilities, but I also know that there is a great problem at the present time in connection with the provision of housing facilities for our young married couples, and that the growth of high wages in Great Britain has resulted in our young married couples going abroad as they are not considered here to be in such dire need of housing as are those with large families.
I think a great deal more should be done for our younger families who are going to dictate the character of our civilisation for the next 40 or 50 years and I should like to ask the Minister whether he should not consider changing the attitude of his Department towards our young married couples in order that they might be facilitated in this respect. In connection with housing grants I think the Minister will agree with me that although it is true in a number of counties that houses of the cottage type are being built for farmers with a valuation of under £10 with the aid of Government and local authority grants, we still have a problem in relation to the farmer whose valuation is up to £25.
There are still houses in the countryside which should be replaced. In spite of all reconstruction work being done, for various reasons we still have too many houses of that kind in very poor condition throughout the countryside and these naturally are anything but an attraction to the young people who want to look forward to a better standard of living. There may be a number of reasons for this failure of our smaller farmers to take advantage of the grants and loans that are available. Their capital may be tied up in family settlements, they may not have the necessary capital or there may be a natural reluctance to borrowing upon sureties because if they borrow upon sureties they may take several years to repay the loans.
In relation to the design of farm residences, I think there should be expert advice available to the local engineers. One of the things that may discourage small farmers from building a new residence is the difficulty of securing a design for a house which is peculiarly suited to the farmer who needs a number of out-offices. Farmers should have a different design to suit their own individual needs. In some cases the design of farm buildings has a direct connection with the design of the residence. The two should be considered together and I am not at all sure that the Minister should not enter into some arrangement whereby the Minister for Agriculture and himself should co-ordinate their activities in relation to farm residence and to farm out-offices.
There are a number of different ways for speeding up the replacement of the very poor type of farmhouses we see throughout the countryside. They include, of course, making available higher grants or altering the methods by which loans are guaranteed and questions relating to the payment of the interest on the annuity. There are also difficulties of administration and of title which may impede the rebuilding of a great many small farmhouses. I think it would be a very good thing if the Minister would have an examination made in a sample area in order that he could ascertain why small farmers have not taken advantage of the loans and grants available.
I should also like to ask the Minister whether he would not consider reviving the architectural competition which was in process of being promoted in 1947 when I happened to be Parliamentary Secretary. It has been abandoned since. The only difficulty that lay at that time was that the architects themselves had not agreed on the fees in connection with the competition, but I think a great deal can still be done to improve the appearance and design of local authority houses. The character of the elevation of a house, the position of windows and roofs—the slope of the roof—can make all the difference between the appearance of the house of which we can be proud and of the house which has nothing to recommend it architecturally.
I think that a competition such as that of which I have spoken would be a stimulating factor and I think such a competition should be inaugurated. The cost would be very little and it would be a stimulus to architects. Attention should also be given to the improvement of the interior amenities of municipal houses and I am quite sure that the last word has not yet been spoken on that matter.
Coming to the general question of road development, here again I have to enter the political field in discussing this matter. The Minister, as one would expect, referred to the amounts from the Road Fund in the normal manner, but some of his supporters are going around the country and announcing the increase in the total amount made available for roads as though that were a gift from the Fine Gael Party to the people of the country, as though they had provided money for the improvement, construction and maintenance of the roads which was not available in our time. I think that is a scandalous type of propaganda. The Minister knows that if he has increased grants to make available it is because of the increases in the number of vehicles due to the prosperity of the country in 1953 and 1954 and that it has no relation to anything that the present Government could do in a short term of office.
I may say that the motor tax fund has increased very largely since 1950. It was £2.8 millions in 1950 and it grew to £4.4 millions is 1953 and I understand that it has now passed that figure. The increase in the Road Fund is not a gift from the Fine Gael Party or the Coalition Government and it is ridiculous to go around the country making that a claim to be elected a member of a local authority. I understand from the Minister's speech that at the present time to sums are being made available from the National Development Fund for either main or country tourist roads. I would like to ask the Minister's indulgence as to whether he will confirm that there is no such sum available.
I made no reference to it whatever.
Then may I take it that there are no allocations?
I made no reference whatever as to what allocations might be made and, if I may use the words of a very famous politician, we must "wait and see".
I would like, in that case, to congratulate the Minister on not making an announcement that there will be last-minute allocations.
There were never any allocations made at this time of the year.
I understand that, but the Minister has not committed himself to the extent of saying that there will be allocations. As soon as the National Development Fund was started we indicated that the roads would be our first consideration and during our last full year of office we gave £500,000 for main roads, over £500,000 for county roads and £400,000 for tourist roads from the National Development Fund.
The Minister has announced that there has been an enormous increase in traffic and the revenue from the Road Fund will not be sufficient to save the roads from disrepair and the enormous effect of the remarkable increase in traffic. More will have to be done in the way of providing capital for assisting in the reconstruction of the roads and in the long run it will be more economic. The amount which will be saved on maintenance in later years will make such a project economic. I press on the Minister the desirability of providing some moneys from the National Development Fund for the reconstruction of the roads.
In regard to the allocation for the county roads—and again I must deal with this matter from the political point of view—I hear the candidates myself running around this country telling the people that the Fine Gael Party and Coalition Government were the first to provide moneys for the improvement of county roads. That is an absolute untruth. The first sums made available for county road reconstruction and improvement were granted in the financial year 1946-47 and not in the time of the Coalition Government. The amount gradually increased from the first figure of just under £500,000 to the amount indicated by the Minister in his Estimate speech. During our time in office we increased the county road allocation from the period 1951-52 to the period 1954-55 by £500,000 and I hope that the other members of the Minister's Party will follow his good example and not parade around the country telling the people that we have got all these grants with the coming into office of the Coalition Government and that the increases were solely the work of that Government.
In connection with the improvement of the main roads, I would like to ask the Minister whether he has examined ways and means of increasing the output, having regard to the enormous cost a main road improvement scheme means nowadays, due to the main roads not being able to bear the greater traffic. Some years ago an examination was made by the officers of his Department into the comparative value of the concrete and bituminous surface. At that time it was found that, in a certain class of terrain, and under certain conditions, if a period of 15 years was taken into account, a concrete road surface, even with the heavy initial cost, would be an economic proposition and that the maintenance after a certain period of time would be so low that the high capital cost would be more than covered by economies. I would like to ask the Minister whether he has any recent figures as regards the comparative value of concrete and bituminous roads.
I have been told that one of the big difficulties lies in the enormous cost of concrete machinery and I would like to ask the Minister whether he has considered the possibility of forming a pool of such machinery which could be given out to the different county councils. I am now speaking about the main roads and the enormous difficulty of improving them efficiently. The result of any improvement in output would be that there would be more money available in the long run for the county roads. I would also like to ask the Minister whether he is satisfied that the standards set up for the improvement of main roads and county roads are of current use or whether there should not be a revision of the methods by which the density of the roads is calculated. I would also like to ask him whether he is still using the old standards or whether he has got amended standards. I move to report progress.
