I move:—
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £90,250 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1960, for Salaries and Expenses in connection with Forestry (No. 13 of 1946 and No. 6 of 1956), including a Grant-in-Aid for Acquisition of Land.
This Supplementary Estimate of £90,250 comprises heads of over-expenditure under Subhead B—Travelling Expenses—requiring an extra £9,000, Subhead C.2—Forest Development and Management—needing £137,000 and Subhead F—Agency, Advisory and Special Services—where an additional £4,000 is required.
Extra expenditure on travelling is due to the accelerated tempo of work in the field by foresters and inspectors. Extra inspectors were recruited during the year for acquisition work and additional travelling expenses have arisen from advisory work in connection with the private planting campaign.
The anticipated over-expenditure of £137,000 under Subhead C.2 arises primarily from additional labour charges amounting to £83,000 and additional spending of £70,000 on purchase of road materials. With regard to the anticipated excess on labour, the position is that average employment in the current financial year will turn out at a figure slightly in excess of 4,800 men whereas the original Estimate provided for a figure somewhat less than 4,800. Moreover, the level of production of labour under the Incentive Bonus Scheme now in course of application to all the forests in the country has been higher than was anticipated at the time of framing of the Estimate.
This means in effect that the men are being paid more and more work is being done. It represents a reduction in production costs but the cost per-man-employed has, of course, in consequence risen beyond the figure originally anticipated. A further factor contributing towards the excess cost of labour is the wage increase of 7/6 per week effective from the 2nd January, 1960, which has been granted in response to trade union demands; this increase is costing £22,000 in the current year.
Approximately £70,000 extra, that is, a total expenditure of £155,000 for the year, will be spent on road materials. Advantage was taken of the very favourable weather last summer to make outstanding progress with construction of new roads and in the first six months of the year, a greater yardage was done than in the whole of the previous year. We have for some years past been running in arrears with our road construction programme and the progress made towards overtaking that work is very welcome.
Further increased spending on subhead C.2 arises from the purchase of fencing materials which will cost this year about £16,000 more than anticipated. Our purchases of fencing materials for the past few years have been cushioned by the fact that we held a substantial reserve of netting wire but we have now come to the end of our stocks and increased purchases have had to be made during the year. There are other minor items of saving and excess within the subhead which combine to produce a net figure of £137,000 in excess of the original provision for C.2.
Excess spending of £4,000 on subhead F—Agency, Advisory and Special Services—arises from the continuing need to retain the services of a consultant in connection with the application of the Incentive Bonus Scheme.
These items of over-expenditure are off-set in part by savings on other subheads amounting to £10,250. Allowance can also be made for an additional revenue of £49,500 under subhead H—Appropriations in Aid. There is an increase of £37,000 expected under the head for sales of timber making a total provision for the year of £317,000 for this head. The demand for Irish timber during the past 12 months has proved very satisfactory and it is obvious that an increased output of timber in constructional sizes, if available, would meet a very favourable market.
There is now a readier acceptance of Irish timber by the building trade who are coming to recognise that the Irish-grown product, properly handled and seasoned, is equal to any of the imported grades. That is a heartening development and we may look forward to the time when the great bulk of the trade's requirements can be met from Irish grown stocks.
Another significant item contributing to our additional receipts is the head of Miscellaneous Receipts which is expected to bring in a total of £18,000 for the year, £11,500 in excess of the original Estimate. This additional revenue flows mainly from the sale of surplus plants. Favourable conditions in our nurseries for germination and growth over the past few years have combined to produce surpluses of various species which have been made available for sale to the nursery trade. We have thus been able to ensure that private planters have been able to obtain from the trade their full requirements of plants for the current season. I understand that demands for plants this year have been on an unprecedented scale and I look forward in due time, when the figures for acreages planted become available, to reporting further increases in the scale of private planting.
The target for the State planting programme this season is 25,000 acres and there is every indication that the target will be fully achieved.
