Soláthraíonn an Vóta seo airgead i gcomhair na, scéimeanna éagsúla oibre don lucht díomhaoineach. Is iad sin (a) na mion-scéimeanna agus na scéimeanna (b) uirbeacha agus (c) tuaithe fostaíochta.
Soláthraíonn sé airgead freisin do scéimeanna eile nár ceapadh d'aon turas le saothrú a thabhairt ach le leas an phobail a dhéanamh ar bhealaigh eile. Is iad seo scéimeanna (a) forbairt na bportach (b) feabhsúcháin tuaithe agus (c) ilgnéitheacha.
Dáileadh thart ar na Teachtaí taibhlí de shuimeanna airgid a caitheadh ar na scéimeahna éagsúla seo nó atá beartaithe i leith na gceithre bliana go dtí an bhliain reatha airgeadais.
Is ar an Stát atá costas ar fad i leith na mion-scéimeanna fostaíochta agus baineann siad mórán ar fad leis na ceanntair chúnga. Caithfidh an oiread seo de lucht chúnamh diomhaointis a bheith cláraithe sul a bhfuighfidh toghroinn mion-scéim. Oibreacha ar bhóithre go tithe, go táilte nó go portaigh na bhfeilméara a bhionns ins na scéimeanna seo agus sa ngeimhreadh a cuirtear ar aghaidh iad.
Sé an Stát, freisin, a íocanns as scéimeanna chun forbairt na bportach. Ní bhaineann siad seo le clár na ndífhostuach cé go mbionn tús oibre acu seo ar na scéimeanna sin. Glanadh díogaí agus déanamh is deasú bóthar a bhios ionntu agus is do scológa agus táirgeoirí móna a ceaptar iad, agus bionn siad ar fáil i ngach ceanntar móinteach a mbíonn annach nó portach gan oibriú ceal siltín uaidh nó bealach isteach ann.
Sórt eile atá ar fáil ar fud na tíre, sea an scéim feabhsúcháin tuaithe; ach tá difir sonntasach idir é agus an dá shórt eile atá Iuaite agam faoi rá is go mbionn ar Iucht iarrta an tsóirt seo cuid den chostas a ioc mar airgead sios sul má ceadófar aon chaiteachas de chuid na h-oifige. Braitheann an rannioc ar lucháil ionrátaithe na n-iarrathóir. Caithfidh beirt fheilméar ar a laghad a bheith ghá n-iarraidh agus ceadaítear futha scéimeanna siltín droichid agus déanamh agus deasú bóthar go portaigh, go táilte nó go tithe. Ach an oiread leis an sórt deireannach a luaidh mé, ní bhaineann an scéim seo le líon na ndífhostuach in áit ar bith, cé go mbionn tús glaoite chun oibre ag an dream cláiraithe; ach bíonn cead fostaithe ina ndiaidh siúid ag na ranniocadórí. Ar nós na gcineál eile, sí Oifig na Scéimeanna Fostaíochta Speisialta a cheapanns mátistir ar mheitheall oibre faoin gcineál seo scéime. Ceapadh iad seo ar dtús i 1943 ar mhaithe le talmhaíocht. Do réir mar bhi na h-inill ag éirí fairsing ar an bhfeilm bhí spéis sa scéim seo ghá múscailt ins na feilméaraí. Is ioma sin róidín agus bóithrín amuigh faoin tír a bhfuil ath-chaoí curtha ortha fuithi seo lena chur in oiriúint do thrucall nó tarraiceóir.
Le linn na hÉigeandála chuidigh na scéimeanna tuaithe go mór le soláthar as an talamh, agus dhá bhárr sin tá siad le moladh. Sin é an fáith agus sin i an t-am a fuair an Vóta seo an teideal atá air.
The Vote for employment and emergency schemes makes provision for the annual programme of employment schemes to give work to men in receipt of unemployment assistance; and for other services such as bog development schemes, rural improvement schemes, and miscellaneous schemes such as minor marine works and archaeological excavations. Provision is also made for salaries, travelling, and other incidental expenses of the staff of the Special Employment Schemes Office, who are responsible for the administration of the Vote.
It is usual in dealing with the Estimate to give a brief resume of the work done under the Vote in the pre- ceding financial year, and I propose to follow that practice. Last year, when introducing the Estimate on 2nd May, 1957, the late Deputy Beegan gave a very detailed account of the various services by sub-heads, which will be found at columns 729-746 of Volume 161, No. 6, of the Dáil Debates of that date.
Last year's original net Estimate, totalling £658,450, was prepared by the previous administration. In concluding his opening statement (column 746), Deputy Beegan announced that a sum of £250,000 would be made available in 1957-58 in addition to the amount published in the Book of Estimates. A Supplementary Estimate for £224,000 was submitted to the Dáil on 19th and 20th February, 1958, to secure formal parliamentary approval for the expenditure in that financial year arising from this additional allocation. To give a comparative picture of the operations of the Special Employment Schemes Office, I have made available to Deputies a tabular statement giving particulars of the expenditure under the various sub-heads of the Vote in 1955-56, 1956-57 and 1957-58, as well as the estimated provision for 1958-59.
In addition to the £853,400 now being asked for, a sum of £48,000, being the total of unexpended balances of the previous years' allocations from the National Development Fund, will be available for expenditure, bringing the gross total to £901,400 and the urban employment schemes total to £275,000 instead of £227,000. Adding the £250,000 special allocation to the original gross Vote provision of £678,450 for 1957-58 gives a gross figure of £928,450; and, as the estimated expenditure for that year is £871,130, it will be seen that, with the exception of the urban employment schemes, the Special Employment Schemes Office has during the year under review spent almost the full amount aimed at.
The distribution of the grants for urban employment schemes, rural employment schemes, and minor employment schemes is related to the number of unemployment assistance recipients in each area. A census is taken annually, in the third week of January, by the Special Employment Schemes Office of the number of these men as well as of the number of persons in receipt of unemployment benefit in each of the 60 urban areas, 357 non-urbanised towns with a population of 200 and over, and 2,875 rural electoral divisions in the whole country. This census includes, in addition to the men drawing unemployment assistance or unemployment insurance benefit, the men who were formerly in receipt of such assistance, but who were working on the Special Employment Schemes Office schemes during that particular week.
The 1958 census figure gives a total of 36,063 men in receipt of unemployment assistance, compared with 35,153 in 1957-an increase of almost 3 per cent. Including persons in receipt of unemployment benefit, the figures were 77,104 in 1958, compared with 84,294 in 1957—a reduction of more than 7,000, or 8½ per cent. on the 1957 figure. The increase in the unemployment assistance recipients was mainly in the urban areas, 12,067 in 1958, compared with 10,819 men in 1957-an increase of 11 per cent.—while in the rural areas there has been a drop of 2 per cent., the figures being 23,130 for 1957 and 22,666 for January, 1958.
The number of unemployment assistance recipients who were employed on the schemes during the week was 1,963 and persons in receipt of unemployment insurance benefit 603, giving a total of 2,566 for the third week in January, 1958. The persons employed on the various schemes under this Vote vary considerably during the year, the peak period being immediately before Christmas. For the week ended the 21st December, 1957, 5,649 men were employed, of whom 1,231 were in urban areas, 490 in non-urbanised towns and 3,928 in rural electoral divisions.
Sub-heads A, B, C and D provide for salaries, travelling, and office expenses of the Special Employment Schemes Office. The provision for sub-head A, salaries, shows an increase of £3,970. The principal reason for the increase is that it is anticipated it will be necessary to fill some of the vacancies which were not filled last year. In former years, a separate sub-head was included for repayments in respect of services rendered to the Special Employment Schemes Office by other Government Departments; £5,400 was included in last year's Estimate in respect of these services. Following discussions at the Public Accounts Committee, and with a view to having the procedure brought into line with the general practice, this sub-head is omitted in the current year. The value of the services is shown at the bottom of page 51 of the Estimates Volume, and will be charged to the Votes of the Departments concerned.
Urban employment schemes are intended to finance works in the four county borough areas of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford, the Borough of Dún Laoghaire, and in the 55 other urban districts. Grants, which are administered through the Department of Local Government, are conditional on the local authorities submitting suitable works schemes for approval by the Special Employment Schemes Office, and making a contribution towards their cost. The local contribution was the same as in previous years, viz., 20 per cent. in Dublin and Dún Laoghaire, 17 per cent. in Cork and Limerick, 14 per cent. in Waterford, and varied between 5 per cent. and 17 per cent. in other areas. With the exception of Dublin, where works are proceeding the whole year round, the schemes are carried out in the winter period only, and in the smaller urban areas for only a few weeks before Christmas. They last somewhat longer in the other county borough areas.
Dealing with this sub-head last year, my predecessor dealt, as reported in columns 734-737 of the Volume of 2nd May, 1957, with (a) the social effect of these schemes in the Dublin area by giving a spell of 12 weeks' employment to unemployment assistance recipients; (b) the very high cost per U.A. man of the schemes— £25 per week, of which the Dublin Corporation pays one-fifth and the Special Employment Schemes Office the other four-fifths; and (c) the difficulties the Dublin Corporation were up against in finding suitable schemes with a high labour content. The unemployment assistance recipients census figure for Dublin was 6,617 in January, 1958, as compared with 5,889 in January, 1957 and 3,937 in January, 1956. Almost 55 per cent. of the urban unemployment assistance recipients are, therefore, concentrated in the Dublin area.
The figure for urban employment schemes in the original printed Estimates for 1957-58 was £140,000. A further £140,000 was earmarked for those urban schemes out of the supplemental Budget allocation, making a gross sum of £280,000. A sum of £155,000 was allocated to Dublin, and the corporation were invited on the 25th July, 1957, to submit new works, representing an expenditure of £193,750, being the State grant of £155,000 plus the corporation contribution of 20 per cent. —£38,750. Schemes approved up to 31st March, 1958 amounted to £125,500 State grant, leaving an unabsorbed balance of £29,500.
The State expenditure on works in Dublin last year amounted to £128,800, and there were outstanding grants already approved as on 1st April, 1958, amounting to £138,000 approximately mainly in respect of works still in progress. The average number of men employed on the Dublin schemes during the year was 177, of whom 125 were unemployment assistance recipients. The numbers varied during the year from a peak total of 270 down to 120, of whom 202 and 75, respectively, were unemployment assistance recipients.
Deputies may at first be surprised at the difficulties the Dublin Corporation have in finding suitable employment schemes. For many years prior to 1953-54, the allocation to the Dublin borough area was £70,000, and the corporation then contributed 30 per cent. —£30,000—making a total of £100,000 available annually. It must be remembered that the works financed from the Employment and Emergency Schemes Vote must not include normal works which are the responsibility of the Dublin ratepayers. Employment schemes must be works which the Dublin Corporation cannot otherwise afford to do. In the last five years, 1953-54 to 1957-58, works representing an expenditure of £850,000 State grant, or including the local contribution of 20 per cent., costing over £1,000,000. have been authorised for execution. Most of the works with a high labour content have, therefore, been exhausted.
The amount which will be allocated to the Dublin County Borough area in 1958-59 has not yet been determined; but, as there is a provision of £227,000 in the printed Estimates and an unexpended balance of £48,000 from the National Development Fund making a total of £275,000 available for expenditure on urban schemes, against an estimated expenditure of £250,000 in 1957-58, the corporation can reasonably assume that a sum approximating to the same figure as last year will be available.
The Cork Corporation were notified of the allocation of £23,250 on 27th July last year, subject to a contribution of £4,650—one-sixth of the total £27,900. The Cork Corporation evidently also had difficulty in finding suitable schemes. Of the list of works originally submitted to absorb this allocation, the Special Employment Schemes Office had to refuse sanction to schemes totalling £10,400 owing to the very low unskilled labour content —i.e., the extent to which the schemes fulfilled the purpose of providing work for unemployment assistance recipients. Some of the schemes originally submitted had unskilled labour contents of only 17 per cent., 21 per cent., 22 per cent. and 24 per cent.
The detailed control of these urban schemes, as already indicated, is exercised through the Department of Local Government, and, up to 31st March, 1958, the Department were authorised by the Special Employment Schemes Office to approve grants for Cork of £21,760. This left an unallocated balance of almost £1,500, which cannot now be made available. Approval for grants amounting to almost £5,000 was, in fact, given only in the last days of the financial year.
The primary purpose of these employment schemes is to give employment to persons in receipt of unemployment assistance; and I have had to ask the Department of Local Government to inform the Cork Corporation that, if schemes with a better unskilled labour content are not found, their proposals for grants out of this Vote will have to be rejected.
Limerick got an allocation of £16,750, which, with the local contribution of £3,350, one-sixth of the total, made a sum of £20,100 available for expenditure. The full amount in this case has been approved; but I should, perhaps, say that the first list of schemes submitted by the Limerick Corporation included items with an unskilled labour content of less than 20 per cent. —and, as I have already said, schemes with such a low labour content cannot be accepted. An alternative scheme was subsequently submitted by the corporation and approved. Waterford this year submitted suitable schemes to absorb their full allocation of £8,500, as did the remaining 56 urban districts. With that comment, I propose to pass from the urban employment schemes sub-head.
The provision for the rural employment schemes sub-head is £35,000—the same as last year. It is intended that, as in 1956-57 and 1957-58, these schemes will be confined to towns with a population of 200 and over which have not urban councils. The pattern of distribution of unemployment over these 357 non-urbanised towns has changed little in 1958 compared with 1957; but the distribution of the allocation has not yet been determined. The county councils will, as heretofore, be required to contribute a quarter of the cost, and the schemes will be carried out in the weeks immediately preceding Christmas.
Minor employment schemes are works on accommodation roads to farmers' houses, lands and bogs, and the provision in this year's Estimate is £130,000—the same as last year. The works are confined to what are commonly known as the congested districts, and are carried out in the period November to March, 886 schemes serving almost 16,000 families and representing an expenditure of £130,000 were approved last year. There has been little change in the number of unemployment assistance recipients in rural areas in recent years. Grants are given in only about 400 of the 2,875 electoral divisions, and the 1958 pattern of distribution of unemployment assistance recipients over the country as a whole is very much the same as in preceding years. My predecessor gave details of the distribution of these schemes in his opening statement in the Dáil (columns 740-742 of the Volume for 2nd May).
The next sub-head is bog development schemes—development works in bogs used by landholders and other private producers. The provision in the printed Estimate last year was £115,000, but an additional sum of £45,000 was made available from the supplemental Budget allocation, bringing the total for the sub-head to £160,000. About one-third of the expenditure is for drainage works and the other two-thirds is for road works. Last year, 483 drainage schemes, costing £51,500 approximately, were approved and 682 road schemes costing £108,500. These schemes facilitated almost 35,000 families in the production of their turf.
The rural improvements scheme makes provision for grants towards the cost of carrying out works to benefit the lands of two or more farmers, such as small drainage schemes, bridges, and the construction or repair of accommodation roads to farmers' houses, lands and bogs. It is a contributory scheme and applies to all parts of the country, irrespective of the unemployment position. The scheme is referred to in Deputy Beegan's introductory statement in the Dáil last year (columns 744-745 of the Volume for 2nd May).
It will be seen that the 1956-57 year started with a commitment of £134,400 in respect of schemes for which the contributions had been lodged by the benefiting farmers. The issue of new offers of grants was stopped in August, 1956, and remained suspended until February, 1957, when offers representing an expenditure of £158,000 were issued. The offers had then again to be suspended, as the provision for expenditure on the rural improvements schemes in the original 1957-58 Estimate was only £150,000. The receipt of new applications was suspended in September, 1956, and remained suspended until July, 1957.
Many Deputies will recall that this scheme was introduced in 1943 to assist farmers in areas outside the congested districts to repair accommodation roads to their houses, lands and bogs. Up to that year, no assistance was available for non-county roads in these areas. The original scheme provided for grants of 75 per cent. of the cost, and the farmers had to find the remaining quarter. In the case of accommodation roads, such as link roads, which served families other than those whose lands adjoined the road, more favourable terms were available. This arrangement continued until June, 1950, when the sliding scale terms were introduced, a 95 per cent. grant being made available for farmers whose average land valuation was below £6, and the 75 per cent. grant being made to apply to farmers with a valuation of £18 and over.
When the new administration took over in March, 1957, the provision in the printed Estimates for this service was limited to £150,000. It was apparent, having regard to the commitments already entered into, and the demand for further grants that this sum was insufficient. Despite the difficult financial circumstances, it was decided to make a substantial additional allocation from State funds, and at the same time it was considered that there should also be some increase in the contribution from the benefiting landholders. In deciding to increase the scale of contributions, it was considered that the benefits accruing to the landholders from those works were sufficiently good to admit an increase in the rates without causing hardship. The minimum contribution is now 10 per cent. instead of 5 per cent.
The 25 per cent. contribution now applies to farmers with an average land valuation of between £15 and £18 instead of to those with an average land valuation of £18 and over, as was formerly the case. Farmers with an average valuation of over £100 are required to pay half the cost. The additional allocation was £65,000, bringing the total provision to £215,000. Sufficient schemes have been sanctioned to exhaust the full provision of £215,000 in 1957-58 and we had, in fact, further lodgments of farmers' contributions as on 31st March, 1958, representing an additional expenditure of £32,000, which could not be sanctioned until the new financial year. The revised terms were announced on 20th July, 1957, when one-third of the year had almost gone, and expenditure was not, therefore, anticipated to exceed £200,000. It has, in fact, not quite reached that figure.
The provision for miscellaneous schemes in the original printed Estimates for 1957-58 was £15,000 and a similar provision is made for 1958-59. It is not anticipated that the expenditure last year under this sub-head will exceed £12,500. The sub-head is required to meet expenditure on minor marine works. County councils are required to contribute one-quarter of the cost of these schemes and to maintain them on completion. The sub-head also finances archaeological excavations at Tara, Lough Gur, Dalkey Island and various other centres. Last year, the expenditure under the latter sub-head was down to £900, as proposed excavations at Tara had to be postponed.
The Appropriation-in-Aid sub-head is £30,000 for 1958-59. This sub-head is made up almost entirely of the farmers' contributions in respect of the rural improvements scheme. It also includes receipts in respect of works on privately owned bogs, the county councils' contributions towards the cost of minor marine works and receipts from the sales of surplus stores.