Tairgim:—
Go ndeonfar suim nach mo ná £284,840 chun slánaithe na suime is gá chun íoctha an mhuirir a thiocfadh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31ú lá de Mhárta, 1960, chun Tuarastal agus Costas Oifig an Aire Gnóthaí Eachtracha agus Seirbhísí áirithe atá faoi riaradh na hOifige sin (Uimh. 16 de 1924), lena n-áirítear Deontas-i-gCabhair.
Le cead an Cheann Comhairie, tá fúm an Meastachán le haghaidh Gnóthaí Eachtracha agus an Meastachán le haghaidh Comhar Idirnáisiúnta a thógaint le chéile mar a rinneadh blianta eile.
I gcás na nGnothái Eachtracha, is é atá sa Mheastachán £427,240. Sin méadú glan de £13,390 ar mheastachán na bliana anuraidh. Is le haghaidh na nithe seo a leanas a mheastar an bhreis a bheith riachtanach: (1) tuarastail, pá agus liúntais do na hoifigigh atá ag fónamh sa cheancheathrú; (2) teileagraim, teileafóin agus postas sa cheanncheathrú; (3) costais taistil ár n-ionadaithe thar lear; agus (4) comhar cultúir le tíortha eile (deontas-i-gcabhair). Mar neodrú go pointe áirithe ar an gcostas breise seo tá le háireamh gur mó de £3,049 an tsuim a luaitear faoin fho-mhírcheann leithris i gcabhair; go bhfuil laghduithe beaga déanta ar na suimeanna a thugann an tír seo mar ranníoc do chomhluchtaí dlíthiúla Idir-Rialtais, agus ar an gcaiteachas i ndáil tuarastal, pá agus liúntas dár gcuid oifigeach thar lear agus i ndáil postais, páigéireachais, teileagram agus teileafón ár n-ionadaithe thar lear.
Tá breis agus ceithre mhile punt de mhéadú sa mheastachán le haghaidh tuarastal, pá agus liúntas sa cheann-cheathrú. Is é is cuis leis sin an méadú tuarastail a tugadh don Státseirbhís anuraidh agus an gnáth-bhreisiú i dtuarastal bliantúil na n-oifigeach bunaithe.
Is deacair an caiteachas ar theileagraim, teileafón agus postas sa cheann-cheathrú a mheas go cruinn mar ní ionann i gcónaí an glaoch ar na seirbhísí seo. Tá méadaithe ar an meastachán i mbliana, ach tá sin bunaithe ar an ráta caiteachais a bhí ann dáiríre anuraidh.
Tá méadú cuíosach mór—méadú £7,000—sa mheastachán le haghaidh costas taistil ár n-ionadaithe thar lear. Is é is bun leis sin gur dócha gur mó a bheidh oifigigh á n-aistriú agus á gcur in ath-ionad agus ag teacht abhaile ar saoire ná mar a bhí anuraidh.
£7,000 an deontas-i-gcabhair le haghaidh Comhar Cultúir i mbliana. Méadú é sin a thugann sásamh mór dom féin, agus a thabharfaidh sásamh do na Teachtaí freisin, tá mé cinnte. Ar feadh a bhfad de bhlianta £10,000 a bhíodh sa deontas-i-gcabhair seo ach de dheasca an crua-chás airgeadais a tharla ann trí bhliain ó shin laghdaíodh é go dtí £2,000 nó beagán thairis. Chuir sin srian linn sna himeachtaí a bhféadfaimís aghaidh a thabhairt orthu agus chros sé ar fad orainn imeachtaí eile a mb'fhéadfadh toradh maith a bheith orthu. Tig linn bheith bródúil as go leor dá bhfuil déanta san iomad gné dár saol cultúrtha, agus ar mhaithe lenár ndeachlú thar lear ba chóir a chur in iúl i dtíortha eile go bhfuil an dul-ar-aghaidh sin déanta. Mar sin is maith ann an méadú faoin fhomhírcheann seo i mbliana. Máidir leis an gcaoi a gcaitear an deontas-i-gcabhair, tá comhairle an Choiste um Chomhar Cultúrtha ar fáil dom agus sin cúnamh ó dhaoine a bhfuil aitheantas bainte amach acu ina raon saothair féin. Is maith liom an deis a bheith agam anois chun buíochas a ghabháil le chuile duine a d'oibrigh chomb fiúntach sin ar an gCoiste blianta eile agus aithním freisin go bhfuil Coiste an lae inniu chomb fial céanna ag tabhairt toradh a gcuid ama agus eolais don Stát.
Is é an cúiteamh is mó atá le lua i gcoinne na breise sa mheastachán ná an t-airgead breise sa leithreas-i-gcabhair. Is é is bun leis sin gur cheadaigh an tAire Airgeadais le déannaí fáltais bheaga éagsula a áirití go n-úige seo mar Fháltais Bhreise Státchiste a áireamh feasta mar chuid den leithreas-i-gcabhair.
Máidir leis an Meastachán le haghaidh Comhar Idirnáisiúnta (Vóta 60), ta an méid, £63,670, le haghaidh ranníocaí do Chomhairle na hEorpa, don Eagras um Chomhar Eacnamaíochta san Eoraip agus do na Náisiúin Aontaithe; agus le haghaidh costa eile a bhaineann leis sin. Is é an Meastachán iomlán £95,470. Sin laghdú glan de £2,500 ón mbliain anuraidh.
Tá laghdú de £1,500 déanta ar rannioc na tire seo le haghaidh costas Chomhairle na hEorpa i leith na bliana seo ach is airde na costais taistil, de £1,200. Rinneadh diluacháil ar an fhranc Francach mi Nollag seo caite. Tagann as sin gur fearr dúinne an ráta iomlaoide atá i bhfeidhm anois agus is lúide an rannioc atáimid a dhéanamh. Is de réir céatadáin seasta nó cuiosach seasta de Cháinaisnéis na Comhairle a riomhtar amach an rannioc sin. Maidir leis an mbreisiú sa mheastachán le haghaidh costas taistil, is rud riachtanach é mar gheall ar chruinnithe breise ag Coisti den Chomhairle Chomhairlitheach agus méadú ar na rátai liúntais chothabhála.
Fé mar a tharla laghdú sa rannioc le haghaidh Comhairle na hEorpa is lú freisin an rannioc don Eagras um Chomhar Eacnamaiochta san Eoraip. Is é meid an laghdaithe sin dhá mhile is céad punt agus is é is cuis leis gur fábharai dúinn anois an ráta iomlaoide i leith frainc na Fraince.
Tá méadú áfach ar na figiúirí i leith taistil agus mion-chostas faoin mircheann seo. £1,150 an bhreis i leith taistil. £280 an bhreis i leith mion-chostas. Ar an airgead a iocfar faoi na fo-mhircheanna seo áiritear caiteachas i leith na n-oifigeach as gach Roinn a dhéanann freastal ar chruinnithe an Eagrais um Chomhar Eacnamiochta san Eoraip agus tá an meastachán bunaithe ar an méid a cheaptar a theastóidh ó na Ranna sin go léir i mbliana.
Maidir leis na hiocaiochtai i leith na Náisiún Aontaithe tá laghdú £2,000 ar an rannioc do Eagras na Náisiún Aontaithe i gcompráid leis an mbliain seo caite. Is é a caitheadh anuraidh £28,650. An tsuim atá luaite an turas seo, chítear dúinn gur gaire i dáirire don rannioc a bheidh le déanamh i mbliana. Tá na mireanna a bhaineann le taisteal agus mionchostais méadaithe de £3,000 agus £150 faoi seach. Tá an meastachán sin bunaithe ar ráta caiteachais na bliana anuraidh móide foráil le haghaidh siosón speisialta den Ard-thionól a fhéadfadh a bheith ann. Ní dhearnadh aon fhoráil mar sin cheana. Tá laghdú de £1,150 sa ranníoc le haghaidh Coiste Leanaí na Náisiún Aontaithe ach ina choinne sin tugadh £1,670 do chiste na dTeitheadh, rud nar tugadh cheana. Sin fo-mhircheann C.7. D'fhonn cabhrú le hArd Choimisinéir na dTeitheach chun deireadh a chur leis na campaí san Eoraip, mar atá beartaithe aige, gheallamar cúig míle punt don chiste sin, agus é a íoc i dtráthchodanna comhionanna i rith trí bhliain.
Iarradh orainn tuilleadh airgid a thabhairt le haghaidh Beartas Chúnaimh Teicniúil na Náisiún Aontaithe agus shocraíomar go méadófaíann ranníoc go dtí £5,000, an tsuim a íoctaí cheana. Laghdaíodh de £5,500 an ranníoc le haghaidh Fórsa Éigeandála na Náisiún Aontaithe, ach bhí sé sin de réir laghdú a bheartaigh na Naisiúin Aontaithe féin sa chaiteachas ar an bhfórsa sin. Ar deireadh ansin tá mír nua de £1,000, curtha leis an Meastachán le haghaidh ranníoc do Ghníomhaireacht Faoisimh agus Oibreacha na Náisiún Aontaithe. Cuid de ghnó na Gníomhaireachta seo cabhrú leis an lucht teithe sa Neas-Oirthear agus iad a athbhunú más féidir. Sin ceann de na fadhbanna is déine atá le réiteach agus ba faoiseamh agus laghdú achrainn don chuid sin den domhan é dá bhféadfaí e réiteach lenár linn.
The events of the past twelve months have done little to relieve anxiety about the present international situation. They have indeed repeated the now familiar pattern of successive crises which only stop short of provoking wide-spread armed conflict, with all its attendant dangers for mankind.
During 1958 we saw, in particular, the development of extremely dangerous situations in the Middle East and in the Far East. Our part in regard to such world problems was to make the best contribution we could to consideration of the issues involved as they arose at the United Nations. In some cases we put forward suggestions of our own aimed at relaxation of international tension, which is the first condition of progress towards a just and stable peace.
As Deputies are aware, the Middle East crisis of last summer, which culminated in American and British landings in Lebanon and Jordan, led to a Special Emergency Session of the United Nations General Assembly in August. The course of events is so recent in our memories that I need hardly recall them now. I should comment, however, that the outcome of the Session was very much more successful than appeared possible when it was summoned. The General Assembly agreed unanimously on a solution, which was supported and indeed suggested by all the Arab countries including those whose differences in regard to the basic issues at stake had been fundamental to the crisis. It was encouraging to see the countries of the area concerned coming together in this fashion to devise a solution for local problems. It was also very encouraging to see the growing realisation by the Great Powers, as demonstrated by the evolution of these events, of the wisdom of restraint in dealing with the affairs of smaller nations.
In my address to the Assembly last August I endeavoured to stress this aspect of the general Middle Eastern situation, urging that establishment of the principle of neutrality for the whole region would be a contribution to peace in the area and in the world generally and that it would create a psychological atmosphere favourable to negotiations for peace in other critical areas. The theme of my remarks was that the Assembly should work to establish the outline of a general settlement in the Middle East, including a reduction of the Arab-Israeli antagonism. I supported the imaginative proposal of President Eisenhower who took the exceptional course of addressing the session for the establishment of a Middle East Economic Agency on the lines of the O.E.E.C. And I suggested in particular that the Arab refugees problem was the greatest single obstacle to lasting peace in the area and that the United Nations should be ready to make extraordinary efforts to break the deadlock on this issue.
It seemed to me that the greatest hope of a solution lay in guaranteeing full compensation to the refugees by the United Nations. The refugees, I said, were entitled to look for compensation to the organisation which some years earlier had taken decisions so vitally affecting them, not as charity but as a matter of justice. The Irish delegate on the Assembly's Special Political Committee developed this suggestion during the debate on the Palestine Refugees question in the Assembly's Thirteenth regular Session which commenced in September last. While the idea has not yet won the necessary measure of support, I believe that it has made some impression on the general thinking on the problem. We must hope that through this or other means arrangements will be evolved to ensure the peaceful and prosperous development of the Middle Eastern area which is still menaced by very serious tensions.
In the context of these Middle Eastern troubles, it is fitting that I should pay a tribute to the part played by the Irish officers who served in the United Nations Observation Group in Lebanon. Their work was a credit to their country and a fine example of the contribution which a small nation can make to the preservation of peace. In the words of Mr. Hammarskjold, the Irish officers "served well the cause of the United Nations."
A wide range of world problems was dealt with by the Assembly's Thirteenth Session. The Irish delegates took their due part in the deliberations of the various Committees. The printed records of the Session are deposited in the Library as they become available and the interventions made by Irish delegates in the various debates were reported in the newspapers of the time. I do not think it necessary therefore to enter into an exhaustive review of the Session's activities.
I should, however, refer to the election of our Permanent Representative at the United Nations to the Chairmanship of the important Trusteeship Committee. This was a significant mark of Ireland's standing in the organisation and, above all, a striking recognition of the personal qualities of the official concerned. It was particularly fitting, I think, that the guidance of the Trusteeship Committee's proceedings should have been entrusted to a representative of Ireland. The Committee's work during the Session concerned in a very direct way the problems attending the evolution towards independence of former colonies and dependencies, the problems, principally, of the great African continent emerging from a long period under European rule and beginning to assert its considerable potential in world affairs. The Committee's Chairman was indeed to say at the end of the Session that the labours of the Committee had been important enough to justify the Session's being known as the "African Assembly."
I should like also to mention briefly the Assembly Resolution calling for the institution of a World Refugee Year. Deputies will be aware that perhaps the greatest humanitarian problem confronting the world to-day is that of the several million people who, through no fault of their own, are refugees from their native countries, driven from their homes, not only by the last great war, but by continuing local conflicts.
It is to meet this problem that the United Nations decided to launch this particular appeal. It is, humanly speaking, of vital importance that the final resettlement and rehabilitation of these people, so long delayed, should now be accomplished as soon as possible, if they are to be saved from apathy and despair. It is the purpose of the World Refugee Year, to call on all citizens, each according to his means, to remember these unfortunate homeless, and to offer all the help they can, so that by the end of 1960 this immense work of Christian charity may be successfully achieved.
As I have already informed the House, the Government have promised £6,000 to the United Nations effort and have further requested the Irish Red Cross to undertake the organisation of Ireland's private contribution to the Year. We know that the Irish Red Cross, with its magnificent tradition of service to humanity, is particularly suited to this task, and we are confident that the Irish people will respond worthily, and that all our charitable bodies and institutions will co-operate with the Society in this effort to the fullest extent.
I now come to what was, from the point of view of the Irish Delegation, the principal feature of the 1958 Session of the United Nations. Our main effort was concentrated upon drawing attention to the dangers involved for peace in the wider dissemination of nuclear weapons. This was the central theme of my address in the Assembly's General Debate and we took steps to develop it further during the First Committee's disarmament debate.
Our initiative on the matter in the United Nations was two-fold, consisting, firstly, of a statement of the problem as we saw it and a concrete suggestion as to a solution and, secondly, of the tabling of a draft resolution designed as a first step towards that solution.
I suggested that the conclusion of an international agreement, by which the present nuclear Powers would remain the sole possessors of such weapons, was an urgent necessity for world peace. I expressed the view that the nuclear stalemate now preserving world peace would cease to apply once nuclear weapons began to come into the possession of smaller countries. A general war could, I argued, result from the use of these weapons by a small State or revolutionary group.
The solution I put forward was that there should be general agreement that no State outside the present Nuclear Club should manufacture or otherwise obtain nuclear weapons. The two elements in this agreement would be an undertaking by the nuclear Powers not to supply such weapons to any other country, and a renunciation of the weapons by all other countries.
My discussions with other delegates showed that there was considerable support for the proposal. In the First Committee, therefore—and this was the second aspect of our initiative in the matter—I tabled a draft resolution asking for recognition of the dangers involved in wider dissemination of the weapons and proposing the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee to study the matter.
At the conclusion of the debate, the paragraph recognising the dangers involved in the spread of nuclear weapons was voted on separately at our request and was adopted by 37 votes to none, with 44 abstentions. The favourable votes spanned many of the voting blocs in the Assembly. They were a measure of the anxiety felt by a considerable number of countries on this issue and it was particularly gratifying that no country voted against the principle propounded. As I did not wish to press the particular method suggested for dealing with the acknowledged danger, that is, the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee, I then withdrew the resolution as a whole. It had by that stage of the debate become clear that the Disarmament Commission was about to be reconstituted and I suggested that it should deal with the nuclear restriction question as one of its first items.
We learnt subsequently—and the Australian and Norwegian delegates explained their votes in this sense in the Committee—that many of the delegations that had abstained in the vote on the paragraph in question, did so only because they did not favour the idea of setting up the Ad Hoc Committee. I felt, too, that many Governments had not had time to study the matter and instruct their delegations in the interval between our tabling the resolution and its consideration in the First Committee.
For reasons quite unconnected with our proposals, the Disarmament Commission has not met since the conclusion of the Session. However, the necessity of restricting the spread of nuclear weapons throughout the world has been receiving some attention in the Press and elsewhere. I have been considering how best to pursue the matter at the approaching Fourteenth Session of the General Assembly and I recently requested that the item be entered on the agenda of that Session. Copies of the memorandum which accompanied the request, in accordance with the usual practice in such cases, will be found in the Library.
There is, of course, another current international problem, that of the discontinuance of tests of nuclear weapons, which has a direct bearing on the question of restricting the spread of those weapons. The three-power Conference on nuclear weapons tests has been meeting in Geneva since last October and we must hope that the progress it has already made will not finally be nullified by unresolved disagreement on the points still at issue. Let us hope and pray that the series of conferences being held in Geneva may crack the ice of the cold war and open the way to true peace based on law and justice and the rights of all nations great and small.
I do not propose in these introductory remarks to enter further into a review of the events of the past year although I shall naturally be happy to try to answer any questions Deputies may raise. It would not be fitting, however, that I conclude this statement without a brief reference to the visit which the former President made in March to the U.S.A. It was a high honour for this country that our President should have been invited by the President of the United States to be his official guest. I, who had the privilege of accompanying the President on this historic visit, can testify to the warmth of the reception accorded to him everywhere he went and by everyone he met from President Eisenhower down. And I can also endorse at first hand all that has been written and said about the superb manner in which President Ó Ceallaigh represented our country and the overwhelming success of the visit.