The amendment on the Order Paper in the name of Deputy Sweetman has been ruled out of order.
Bill received for final consideration.
Shannon Free Airport Development Company Limited (Amendment) Bill, 1961—Report and Final Stages.
Question proposed: "That the Bill do now pass."
This Bill is in amendment of the principal Act and it constitutes, with the principal Act, one code, so to speak. I want, therefore, to raise the matter to which I referred in the amendment which has been ruled out of order but on a different basis. When I looked at the Undeveloped Areas Acts last night, following the discussion we had here yesterday, I found that the provision there is that the report of Foras Tionscal will be "in such form and will contain such matter as the Minister may direct." The situation in relation to the Shannon Free Airport Company is that there will be an annual report and that the Minister can get such information as is necessary and that the reports will contain such matter as he directs.
The Minister in his directions to the Shannon Free Airport Development Company should give exactly the same direction as has been given by his colleague, the Minister for Industry and Commerce to Foras Tionscal. If the Minister will look at the latest report of Foras Tionscal for the year ended 31st March, 1961, which was recently tabled, he will find in Appendix 2 the exact information for which we asked yesterday in relation to this company. Incidentally, I would draw attention to the fact that the Foras Tionscal report is in neostyled form at an earlier date than it could be produced and printed, for the specific purpose, no doubt, of enabling the House to consider its contents before the House rises for the Summer Recess.
The Minister could well indicate to the Shannon Free Airport Development Company that they could do the same thing as Foras Tionscal. Though their actual printed reports and accounts might not be available until the later date he indicated, the neostyled form should be available to the House before that. In regard to Foras Tionscal every individual grant payment made is set out clearly, showing the name of the grantee, the location of the assisted undertaking, the products, the grant approved and the specific payments made in the year. The location does not arise in this case because they are all located in the same way but there would appear to be no reason whatever to differentiate between Shannon, on the one hand, and Foras Tionscal, on the other. It is highly desirable that when public moneys are being paid out in grants in this form, information as to the grant payments as such, apart from the commercial arrangements in relation to individual lettings, and so forth, should be made available to the public.
Apart from the fact that the public have the right to know what is being done with public money, it is quite clear, as a result of experience over a long number of years, that the only way of ensuring that undesirable rumours are not prevalent in regard to the basis of any grants, is that those grants will get the fullest possible publicity. Then everybody knows where he stands. The Minister has power under this Act and the principal Act to do that and I would urge very strongly that he take the same line as has been taken in the case of Foras Tionscal.
On the whole, I think I would find it possible to arrange for the Shannon Free Airport Development Company to publish in their future reports the individual grants made available to the factories. The factories are all situated close together and I can see some difficulties that might arise because they are all cheek by jowl with one another. However, I think the argument put forward by Deputy Sweetman is reasonable, that when Foras Tionscal publishes the individual grants, the Shannon Free Airport Development Company should do likewise.
I should also like to state that Section 10 of the Principal Act provides that grants for machinery and equipment for new industries are limited to 50 per cent. I want to make that clear because the matter arose last night in the course of the debate.
Did the Minister find his factory in the meantime?
He did, yes.
Hurrah!
We lost a factory last night in the course of the argument which, perhaps, could have very serious repercussions on the economy. I will have to read this—it is rather complicated—in order to make it quite clear what the position is. In the report of the Shannon Free Airport Development Company for the year ended 31st March, 1960, it was stated that there were 22 factories built or in course of construction, together with a special factory. One of the intended sites has since been diverted to a site for a boilerhouse to service all the factories. Another factory premises which was evacuated by the occupier has been diverted into use as a canteen for the workers in all the factories.
That is the answer.
Question put and agreed to.
This is a Money Bill within the meaning of Article 22 of the Constitution.