I move:—
That a sum not exceeding £3,166,890 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, 1961, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Local Government, including Grants and other Expenses in connection with Housing and Miscellaneous Grants.
The total Vote for my Department for the year 1960-61 is £5,131,890. As it appears in the Book of Estimates, it shows an increase of £651,400 on the Vote for the previous financial year but Deputies will recall that a Supplementary Estimate of £195,000 for grants under the Housing Acts was passed towards the close of that year. The net increase of this Estimate over that of last year is, therefore, £456,400.
The chief increases are £215,000 in the provision for contributions towards housing loan charges of local authorities; £395,000 in the provision for grants to private persons etc., for the purchase, erection, reconstruction and improvement of dwelling houses; and £41,000 in the provision for contributions towards loan charges of sanitary authorities.
The cumulative increase in the provision of grants for private persons' housing is now £795,000 in excess of the corresponding provision made before the passing of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1958. This reflects the continuing stimulus which housing activity is receiving from the increased grants and the widened scope of their application in respect of repair, improvement and sanitation works, as well as the loan facilities for such works, for which the Act of 1958 made provision.
The erection of new houses by private enterprise has also increased to quite an exceptional degree. These increases are reflected in the figures for 1959/60 in respect of both grants allocated and grants paid under every head of erection and reconstruction. The numbers of grants approved showed increases as compared with the previous year of 52.3 per cent. for new houses, 42.9 per cent. for reconstruction, repair or improvement of houses and 57.2 per cent. for water and sewerage grants, while the numbers of grants finally paid showed increases of 21.5 per cent. for new houses, 20.4 per cent. for reconstruction, etc., and 23.4 per cent. for water supply and sewerage facilities.
There is very considerable scope for works for the conservation or improvement of existing houses, including the provision of piped water supplies and sewerage facilities for rural houses. In this latter type of work, there is a growing tendency towards co-operation by groups of persons in the provision of private water supply schemes in outlying rural areas. I have written and spoken in favour of this development, particularly in areas which would not normally be served by public supplies, and I have found that the people concerned are quick to appreciate that co-operative effort can be a solution to their problem in relation to water supply. I am continuing the drive for expansion of these operations and I have sought the co-operation of sanitary authorities in examining the proposals and supervising their maintenance so as to ensure that they will work satisfactorily and that they can be assimilated in due course into any public water supply systems that may be provided for the areas in question.
Apart from the continuance for another two years by the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1960, of the general grant facilities as extended by the Act of 1958, it has been found possible to modify certain administrative restrictions governing the allocation of second or further reconstruction or improvement grants where works of this nature become urgently necessary. Payment of a second or further grant in respect of the same house has been subject to a restriction as to a period, usually 15 years, that must elapse between the completion of one job and the commencement of another. I found that rigid application of this restriction was giving rise to hardships where it had become essential to carry out further work before the expiration of the 15 year period. In order to alleviate such hardships, limited grants are now available for some of the more urgent works which are likely to arise. Such works can be classified as follows:—
1. Provision of extra bedrooms to relieve permanent overcrowding. There may be a waiting period of 5 years between the two works and the grants are subject to a maximum of £50 per essential room. An extension to the floor area of the house must be involved.
2. Provision of bathrooms by way of extension to floor area. There may be a waiting period of up to 5 years between the two works and the grants are subject to a maximum of £50. The bathroom must be fitted out as such.
3. Other works (other than maintenance works) which are certified to be urgently necessary to conserve the house and to be necessary because of damage caused by fire, wind, rain, flooding or other cause outside the applicant's control.
These grants are made available under Section 12 of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1954, and are of course subject to the other qualifications for such grants.
In the light of the diminishing volume of housing needs requiring to be met by local authorities, it might be anticipated that progress under this head would have shown a decline but, on the contrary, in the year ended 31st March last, the housing authorities completed 2,070 dwellings as compared with 1,812 in the preceding financial year. In addition 342 houses were acquired and reconstructed by Waterford Corporation in that period
Estimates submitted by housing authorities indicate that they expect to commence work on over 3,000 dwellings in the current financial year. While such estimates may be subject to revision in the light of actual progress being made in the course of the year, these figures reveal a further substantial increase in the size of the local authority housing programme. It is one of my chief concerns to ensure that this projected housing is directed to its best social and economic purpose by relieving genuine housing need as represented particularly by those families living in the remaining pockets of unfit houses which still exist in various areas.
In a recent circular letter to housing authorities I reminded them that the stage now appears to have been reached in most areas where the remaining housing problems require to be dealt with by way of an intimate examination of these problems by officers of the housing authorities in consultation, where appropriate, with officers of my Department. I suggested that such examination should extend to the numbers of unfit houses still remaining and the works necessary to render fit any houses that can be made fit at reasonable expense. Such an examination will be expected to be made, irrespective of whether the occupants have applied for rehousing or not. I also suggested that owners and occupiers of repairable houses should be urged to make use of the reconstruction, repair and improvement grants available.
Other activities recommended in the letter included the organisation and supervision of co-operative housing and the provision by the housing authorities of sites for persons anxious and willing to construct houses for themselves. I have asked housing authorities to give special examination to the question of under-occupation in local authority dwellings with a view to taking all steps practicable, where need is found to exist, to ensure that the available accommodation is used to the best advantage.
The Estimate contains a provision of £386,000 for subsidy towards the annual loan repayments in respect of sanitary services works, principally water and sewerage schemes. It shows an increase of £41,000 over the sum provided for 1959/60.
In my statement on the Estimates last year, I mentioned the decline in the volume of work in progress on sanitary services schemes caused by the interruption of planning in 1956. This continued during the last financial year. The estimated cost of schemes in progress at 31st March last was £4,228,000 as compared with £5,130,000 on 31st March, 1959. The value of work actually executed on these schemes fell from approximately £1,400,000 in 1958/59 to £1,000,000 in 1959/60. The planning and execution of sanitary services works generally spans a number of years, so that any curtailment of programmes produces effects which are evident over a long period. The results of corrective action are equally slow to mature. It is hoped, however, that the present financial year will show an upturn in the trend of expenditure on the works. My aim is to attain a level of expenditure of about three million pounds a year so as to ensure that the programme will be completed within a reasonable period.
In order to secure an expansion in the programme of works on these schemes, the Government decided to raise, for schemes commenced or for loans sanctioned after 18th September, 1959, the standard rates of State subsidy and to make other financial changes designed to lighten the impact on the ratepayers of the cost of such schemes. The new rates of Exchequer contribution to loan charges on water and sewerage schemes are 60 per cent. in Gaeltacht areas, former congested districts, and urban districts under £25,000 valuation; 50 per cent. in other areas, and 40 per cent. in Dublin city. These rates represent increases of from 16? per cent. to 5 per cent. in the several separate rates of subsidy formerly applicable to water supply and sewerage schemes in the various areas mentioned. In addition, 25 per cent. capital grants are available from Roinn na Gaeltachta for schemes in the Fíor-Ghaeltacht. The other financial changes are an extension of the maximum period for the repayment of loans from 30 to 50 years; the authorisation of repayment by the annuity system, instead of the instalment system, at the option of the local authority; and the inclusion of the costs of acquiring land, water rights, etc., in the capital cost of the scheme for the purpose of calculating subsidy.
These financial changes will enable local authorities to go forward confidently with the planning and execution of water supply and sewerage schemes. I am particularly concerned that attention should now be concentrated on expanding sanitary services in rural areas with a view not alone to the advancement of public health, but to raising living standards and the furtherance of agricultural efficiency, particularly in livestock production. The present position is that 88 per cent. of persons living outside towns and villages do not enjoy the benefits of a piped water supply, and the urgent need for improvement of this position is, as I mentioned when announcing the revised financial terms for water and sewerage schemes, the next objective of social policy.
County councils have been asked to prepare comprehensive programmes for the extension of piped water supplies to rural areas, taking account of the need, in many areas, for reliance either wholly or partly on private piped water supplies and sewerage facilities installed with the aid of State and local authority grants. An essential preliminary to the adoption of such programmes is a detailed survey of the existing sanitary services position in each area, the water sources available, and the possibilities of developing these sources in the most effective way for the service of the inhabitants. Detailed directions were issued last year on this matter. I would urge all county councils to proceed with the completion of these surveys without delay. The work involved may call for some redeployment or augmentation of county engineering staffs as a temporary measure, and I am prepared to facilitate councils in this matter. The further planning and execution of programmes, and the proper operation and maintenance of the schemes, may require more permanent arrangements, and I would suggest that county councils may find many advantages in specialising their engineering staffs. Specialised branches of work, such as sanitary services, housing and roads, might, where that is not the case already, usefully be assigned to individual Chief Assistant or Assistant County Engineers. The recruitment of design staff should also be considered where a substantial programme of work is foreseen, and where the existing county engineering staff offers no room for design work.
There are problems connected with water utilisation, and the disposal of waste water, which call for special examination. The demands on water resources for domestic consumption, industrial development, agriculture and inland fisheries may set up conflicts of interest in particular cases while, on the other hand, drainage operations and the disposal of sewage and trade wastes may give rise to water pollution, with prejudicial effects on domestic water supplies or fisheries. These problems require joint consideration by a number of departments and I have, accordingly, after consultation with the other Ministers concerned, set up a committee of representatives of the Departments of Finance, Lands, Industry and Commerce, Agriculture, Transport and Power, Health, and my own Department, to consider the whole question of water utilisation, in the light of information available as to the water resources of the State.
Considerable progress was made during the past year in carrying out a number of major sanitary services schemes. The North Dublin Regional Water Supply Scheme serving districts along the Northern boundary of the city, was completed and is now in operation. The North Dublin Drainage Scheme, serving many of the north city suburbs, is in partial operation. The Whitegate Regional Water Supply Scheme, County Cork, has been completed. It serves the oil refinery mainly but also a number of small towns and villages in the vicinity and a considerable rural area. The South County Wexford Regional Water Supply Scheme, which was begun in 1958/59, is now about 90 per cent. completed. The Lough Mourne Water Supply Scheme, County Donegal, has been completed and serves Lifford, Raphoe, Castlefin, Convoy, Killygordon, Ballindrait Cross Roads, Porthall and neighbouring areas. In addition it has been connected for standby purposes in cases of emergency for St. Johnston, Stranorlar and Ballybofey. Further extensions of the scheme have been approved to serve Millsessiagh, Coneyboro, Sessiaghoneill and Carrigans and it is expected that the last named extension will be used in due course to serve the Monereagh, Tonagh, Cross, Churchtown, Castle-third and Derrymore districts. A survey of the whole area with a view to ascertaining what other areas can be usefully served has recently been completed and is under consideration. I understand that, as a result, a number of further extensions will be proposed.
During the year a number of schemes were commenced, the largest being two new contracts entered into by Kildare County Council for regional water supply schemes which will serve several areas including Johnstown, Kill and Rathangan. Work on a main drainage scheme for Bandon, County Cork, and its vicinity oegan in January, 1960. An important water supply improvement scheme from the economic point of view was commenced during the year in order to improve the supply to the Centre Park Road Industrial Area, Cork, and is half-way to completion.
The fire service continues to improve generally. I should like to congratulate the Limerick City and neighbouring Fire Brigades, including the Cork City Brigade, on the efficiency and promptness with which they dealt with the very large fire which occurred last year in Todd and Co's premises. Apart from the fire fighting skill displayed, the occasion was a heartening demonstration of inter-brigade co-operation.
The taking of preventive action is an important aspect of the fire service. I have recently set up an expert committee to revise the Fire Protection Standards for certain buildings which were drawn up some twelve years ago and which now require to be reviewed and revised where necessary in the light of experience. The committee is made up of representatives of my Department, the Departments of Health, Education and defence, the Office of public Works, and local authority fire officers.
I have been giving a good deal of thought to open spaces in new building estates which are left in an unsightly and neglected state. The present situation cannot be allowed to continue. There are two problems, first, to ensure that the developer leaves the open space in a tidy and plantable condition and secondly, to provide that the local authority will then take it over and maintain it. The present law is not satisfactory and I am now considering the details of new legislation to ensure that local authorities have power to require a developer to discharge his obligations, and that they have the legal obligation to take over and maintain these open spaces.
It is my view that this obligation of local authorities should be related to their general responsibility for safeguarding and extending the amenities of their areas and should embrace also neglected or derelict open spaces in private or local authority ownership which have been allowed to fall into an objectionable condition.
I have had under consideration for some time the increasing use of holiday caravans and the consequent need for suitable caravan sites. This development will oblige sanitary authorities to take measures for the prevention of danger to public health and injury to amenities. There may be a serious hazard to health in concentrations of such vehicles on sites that are inadequately provided with water supplies, sewage disposal systems and other services. I should like to see every reasonable encouragement given to the use of caravans as an important element in the development of tourist traffic, but the use of unsuitable sites or the misuse of any site would harm rather than help this objective.
There are adequate powers of control vested in sanitary authorities under the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act, 1948. Hitherto my Department has acted only on request from sanitary authorities to have the relevant control provisions brought into operation but I have now decided that, unless the initiative is taken locally, I shall declare the statutory provisions to be in operation in all areas where caravan parks or caravan sites have been or are likely to be provided. I am also having a memorandum issued to sanitary authorities for their guidance in considering applications for licensing of sites and in attaching conditions to licences granted. In enforcing compliance with the standards I can see that a certain financial burden may fall on developers and I am advising sanitary authorities to co-operate as far as possible with private developers in the provision of services where such co-operation may prove necessary or desirable. The memorandum on standards will specify conditions in relation to a number of matters such as density of temporary dwellings on a site, layout of the site, water supply, sanitary conveniences, general maintenance, behaviour, supervision and fire precautions.
The most striking development in road matters in recent years has been the growth in the number of motor vehicles. In 1949 there were less than 123,000 vehicles licensed and about 173,000 drivers. Ten years later these figures had increased to over 278,000 vehicles and over 305,000 drivers. The increase has been most striking in the case of small motor cycles and tractors, but the numbers of the main classes of vehicles, private cars and goods vehicles, have about doubled in the 10-year period. These figures reflect the growing importance of roads in internal transport: incidentally, they afford some indication of the general level of prosperity and economic activity.
The growth in road traffic has created a correspondingly increased demand on the road system, including the network of county roads that has had to be improved to take the mechanised transport that now serves the farming community. In most areas considerable headway has been made and a good spinal system of county roads provided. As one comes to the less-trafficked county roads, it is possible to reduce standards of construction, and so reduce costs. A further substantial reduction in costs has been secured by the use of modern methods and new materials. The overall result is that the completion of the county road programme can be achieved in most areas in a reasonable time. It may not be necessary to provide dust-free surfaces on all county roads, many of which can be maintained in good condition for motor traffic by the use of modern maintenance methods, at no extra charge over present upkeep costs.
I should like to I give some figures to indicate the present stage of progress. We have approximately 40,000 miles of county roads of which about 40 per cent. have been made dust-free. Four counties have over 80 per cent. in this condition, a further six over 50 per cent., and a further 10 over 25 per cent. The annual increment is 1,600 miles, so that at the end of three years approximately 50 per cent. will have dust-free surfaces and at the end of six years over 60 per cent.
Although main roads number in miles only 10,000, they carry the heaviest concentration of traffic, particularly the main arterial routes. Traffic counts taken on trunk roads in recent years gave figures as high as 3,618 vehicles per 12-hour period, and 1,500 vehicles per peak hour. Calculations made in particular cases show that any improvement effected yields considerable savings in time, fuel consumption and wear and tear of vehicles and tyres. Accident statistics have shown also that better roads mean less accidents. In view, however, of the limited amount of capital available for investment in the whole system, and the needs of the county roads to which I have referred, main road improvement work is restricted to cases where the road was deteriorating under the weight of traffic or where accident records showed a serious hazard. The amount of main road realignment work carried out at present is therefore restricted, the limited funds available for main road improvement being largely spent on widening and strengthening. Some useful works have been carried out, however, and in each case they were specifically approved by the elected body in accordance with the procedure which I introduced in 1958.
Apart from the grants available under the Road Fund (Grants and Advances) (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1959, the Road Fund grants for the present year as originally notified were on the same basis as in the past few years. Amounting to approximately £5,000,000 they included a county road improvement grant of £2,400,000, a main road improvement grant of £1,000,000, a main road upkeep grant of 40 per cent. of approved expenditure, £400,000 for the tourist road scheme, £150,000 for bridge schemes and £150,000 for the county boroughs and Dún Laoghaire. Recent returns of motor taxation indicate that a higher income for the benefit of the Road Fund may be expected, due chiefly to the growth in the number of vehicles taxed. Furthermore, with the assistance of money advanced by the Government, by way of loan and by careful administration, we have reduced the proportion of commitments that had reached such a disturbing volume some years ago. These improvements in the position of the Fund have enabled me to allocate extra grants amounting to about £400,000 in the present financial year.
Out of this amount, an improvement grant of £50,000 is being allocated for urban roads, divided on a mileage basis. This is the first time that Urban District Councils have received any grants from the Road Fund for their urban roads. The county and main road improvement grants already allocated to the county councils are being increased by 1/12th.
The main road upkeep grant is being extended to the county borough corporations and the Corporation of Dún Laoghaire. Up to now these municipalities have received no grant towards road upkeep. The grant should help them to improve the maintenance of their streets and so to meet more effectively the need of present-day traffic and prevent costly deterioration.
A number of developments indicate that the time has come to assess the merits of the existing system of distributing Road Fund grants. The tourist road scheme is due to terminate this year. The county road improvement schemes are near completion in some counties. Traffic has reached a high level and continues to grow. I have, therefore, instituted a comprehensive, objective review of the grants system. It may be that this review will suggest sweeping changes. It may be that it will merely confirm the value of the existing system. Naturally, the Minister for Finance and myself will have to consider the matter fully before deciding on any new system, or on retaining the existing one.
The Road Fund (Grants and Advances) (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1959, provided for special assistance to the Road Fund over a period of five years to the extent of a maximum of £400,000 per annum, half being a loan and half a free grant. This was designed to deal with urgent problems created by railway crossings and the improvement of access to certain major industrial undertakings. Requests for grants far in excess of the maximum of £2 millions have been received, as one would expect, and it has been necessary to restrict the allocations to cases which clearly complied with the preordained conditions, namely, that being outside the scope of the road authority's normal programme they could not be undertaken under the funds normally available to the local authorities concerned, that they must be urgent and that they must relate, in the case of railway closings, to closings that have occurred recently.
On the basis of these conditions it has been necessary to refuse a number of requests for grants. The full sum of £2 millions has for all practical purposes now been allocated, £1,400,000 to eight counties affected by railway closings, and the balance for public roads serving industrial etc., undertakings such as the Shannon Airport area, Cork Airport, the Whitegate refinery, a number of coal mines, the Wicklow copper mine, and gypsum mines.
I do not propose to go into questions of motor taxation, because on the issue of unladen weight a full debate was held on the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) (Amendment) Act, 1960, and further minor amendments of the motor tax law have been included in the Finance Bill.
I now come to road traffic. The growth in road traffic has naturally accentuated the problems of road safety and traffic congestion. The Government are fully alive to these problems and are intent on their solution within the shortest possible time. In so far as legislation can help, the necessary provisions will be made in the forthcoming Road Traffic Bill. The Government's preliminary proposals in the White Paper have, on the whole, been well received. Suggestions on individual items have been made, and these are at present being considered. Every effort will be made to bring the legislation before the House as quickly as possible, but it will be appreciated that a lengthy Bill of this type, which is intended to modernise and codify the whole Road Traffic law, will take some time to draft.
The Bill itself will need to be implemented by various regulations and byelaws. Progress has already been made in the review of existing regulations. Where necessary and where the powers are available, these can be amended prior to the enactment of the Bill. Thus, in April, 1959, I made regulations and the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána made byelaws which enabled us to introduce the new type of pedestrian crossing, giving a pedestrian the right of way where zebra markings and flashing beacons are provided. Dublin Corporation have already provided 46 of these crossings with the assistance of a grant from the Road Fund.
While a lot can be done by way of legislation and regulation, and while the Garda Síochána can play their part by way of enforcement, a worthwhile reduction of accidents can be secured and maintained only if every individual road-user plays his part. Propaganda has been used from time to time, and will continue to be used, to foster the proper outlook among road-users—a sense of consideration for others, an awareness of the need for care at all times. Coupled with these qualities there must be inculcated a thorough knowledge of the rules of road behaviour. At the moment the preparation of an illustrated folder is in hands which will deal with a particular aspect of the Rules of the Road, namely, the duties and rights of road-users at pedestrian crossings. It is hoped that others will follow.
On traffic congestion, the powers to deal with this rest primarily, and quite rightly, with the Garda Síochána, who make the necessary byelaws and have the responsibility for enforcing them. The local authorities provide the signs, markings and other devices. They are consulted before byelaws are made. It is necessary to have a number of authorities in the picture because a number of interests are involved. Proper co-ordination can eliminate any confusion and delays that might arise in the implementation of sound ideas for the abatement of congestion, which can create a serious economic loss. With this in view, I have arranged that the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána and the Dublin Corporation should each assign a senior officer to work on the informal co-ordination of their functions, in association with the senior Assistant Secretary of my Department in order to expedite decisions on all the improvements that may be found possible in advance of the long-term measures on which the Corporation is seeking expert advice.
In most counties the high standard of rate collection of previous years was maintained, the percentage of the rate warrants collected at the 31st March, 1960, being 97.2 per cent. as compared with 97.4 per cent. at the corresponding date in the previous year.
The wages and salary increases recently granted to local authority employees made some increases in the rates unavoidable. The rates struck by most county councils therefore show some increase this year—the average county rate for the current year being 38/11d. as against 38/- last year.
During the last financial year the total revenue expenditure of local authorities, excluding vocational education committees, committees of agriculture and harbour authorities was approximately £53.03 millions. The figure for the present financial year has been estimated at £54.7 millions. Of the £53.03 millions for last year, the State contributed £22.35 millions or 42.1 per cent. by way of grants and the State's share of the estimated expenditure in the year 1960/61 is £23.6 millions or 43.1 per cent. of the total. When account is taken of other miscellaneous receipts such as rents from property, and repayments by borrowers of loans made to them under the Small Dwellings (Acquisition) Acts, et cetera, the net amounts falling on local rates last year and this year are estimated to be £21.42 millions or 40.4 per cent. and £21.9 million or 40 per cent. respectively. The State is therefore contributing more towards the cost of local services than the local authorities themselves are levying by way of rates. This position, which has now prevailed for a number of years, compares very faourably for the local authorities with that obtaining in pre-war years when State grants came to only 75 per cent. approximately of the total amount of rates collected.
While total revenue expenditure has been increasing the downward trend in the level of capital expenditure has continued. The decrease in the year 1959/60 has however not been so marked as in the previous few years. Capital expenditure in that year was approximately £8.52 millions as against £8.82 millions in 1958/59 and £10.303 millions in 1957/58.
The total indebtedness of local authorities after deducting sums for debt redemption was £145 millions at 31st March last.
