I move:
"That Dáil Éireann is of the opinion that, as a practical step to stimulate increased production through the improvement of the fertility of our land by badly needed drainage schemes and at the same time to help to relieve unemployment in rural areas, the necessary moneys to put the Local Authorities (Works) Act into operation should be provided immediately."
I regret the fact that the movers of the other motions happened to be caught on the wrong foot, so to speak. I hope they will forgive me on this occasion for taking advantage of the opportunity available to me to move what I consider to be a very important motion for rural Ireland. I think that all the Deputies, who had motions on the Order Paper and whose motions have now dropped to the bottom of the Order Paper, will agree with me when I say that the subject of drainage in rural Ireland is of greater importance today than any other subject that could be discussed in this House.
Deputies on both sides of the House who are members of local authorities for the past four to five years have listened to deputations and requests from the farming community to have something done to drain the fertile lands in various parts of the country. Deputies in Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour, Deputies who represent rural Ireland, have agreed to motions passed at local authority meetings that it was absolutely essential to have the Local Authorities (Works) Act restored.
It was in order to give the Government an opportunity of hearing the views of the Deputies of their own Party and the Opposition groups that Deputy Dr. Browne and I decided to table this motion. When a similar motion came before this House a few years ago, the then Government, composed of the very same group, the Fianna Fáil Party, pointed out that they found a considerable number of faults with that Act. They did not deny that a great deal of good work had been done in many parts of the country but they did find fault with the work done in certain areas. They found that there was a faulty section of the Bill which did not cater for maintenance work afterwards.
I agree that they were sincere in this and that they believed at the time that a great deal of wastage of money took place but what have they done in the meantime? What steps have they taken over the years either to improve the Local Authorities (Works) Act as it stood or to replace it with something that was the product of their own genius? To my mind, they have done absolutely nothing to improve conditions by drainage works in rural Ireland in the past four or five years. They have been content merely to criticise the work done under the legislation passed by this House. They took no step whatever to alter the Act or improve it in any way, or to bring in fresh legislation that would, perhaps, help to ameliorate drainage conditions in rural Ireland.
I know that in my own constituency of County Roscommon the situation is dreadfully serious at the moment. I know, as does the Minister for Local Government, that excellent work was carried out in that county over the years under the Local Authorities (Works) Act. The other Deputies in my constituency who were members of the local authority are in full agreement and will, I am sure, support me when I challenge contradiction by any Minister in saying that there was no wastage of public funds under the Local Authorities (Works) Act in County Roscommon.
Yet, in spite of agreement among my colleagues from County Roscommon that the work was excellent work, we are told today that the Local Authorities (Works) Act produced a great deal of wastage expenditure and, consequently, the Government had no option but to suspend the Act. What has happened in many parts of the country? The local authorities had embarked upon drainage schemes under the Local Authorities (Works) Act. Some of these schemes were partially completed and some of them were almost completed. Many of those schemes have been in exactly the same position as they were in when the Local Authorities (Work) Act was suspended.
Undoubtedly, a great deal of the wastage of money took place as a result of the suspension before schemes in operation were completed. It may be said by the Minister that in a number of special cases extra grants from other sources were made available to local authorities to complete a very limited number of such schemes as I have referred to. That may be, but if it was possible to allow a number of these schemes to be completed under, say, the Sanitary Services Act, is it not quite logical for me to suggest to the Minister and the Government that the scope of that Act should be widened to include other drainage works in various rural areas?
Regretfully, I have come to the conclusion that so far as rural Ireland and the small farmers of rural Ireland are concerned, the Government have little or no interest in their welfare. If they had they would alter their system of priority with regard to expenditure and give first preference to what is described as the backbone of this community. I am afraid that all that the small farmers and rural dwellers are getting from the Government is a bit of lip service and praise. When it comes down to practical proof of the Government's intention to look after their interests, to keep them on the land and enable them to rear their families in reasonable comfort, one of the first demands on the Exchequer should be an allocation for the carrying out of much needed drainage works all over this country. I could give examples of how money was spent by this Government, money which in my opinion, was wasted. Far more money was wasted on other activities and projects than was ever wasted on the Local Authorities (Works) Act.