As usual, I propose to take Votes 8 and 9 together.
Vote 8 provides for the salaries and incidental expenses of the various staffs needed to administer the services for which provision is made in Vote 9. The Estimate shows a comparatively small increase of £24,740 over last year's provision. Part of the reason for this is that pay increases were recently granted to professional and technical staffs and there are some additions proposed in numbers—particularly in the national monuments and architectural services. They include twenty trainee architectural assistants recruited under the experimental scheme to which I referred when the Estimate was being taken last year. These will have completed their first year's full-time training in June and will then be available for part-time service while completing their training. It is proposed to recruit a further twenty trainees in the current year.
Vote 9 provides for the various engineering and architectural services dealt with by the Office of Public Works—as distinct from the Special Employment Schemes Office—which, of course, will be dealt with separately. These services comprise the erection and maintenance of State buildings, the care of other State property such as harbours, parks and national monuments, the erection and improvement of primary schools, the execution of arterial drainage schemes and several other miscellaneous services. The Estimate for this Vote also shows an increase over last year's provision. This is due to an expansion of activities particularly in the field of arterial drainage, and in the provision of improved accommodation for the Garda Síochána. I shall refer to these two items in more detail later.
The two main classes of works dealt with, architectural works and arterial drainage, are covered by the two major subheads of Vote 9 B and I.2. Ancillary subheads are C and J, which provide respectively for property maintenance and the purchase and maintenance of machinery. Subheads A and E cover payments for sites and premises required for State use, both here and abroad. The remaining subheads provide for the furnishing, heating, lighting, cleaning and general servicing of the various State properties.
I shall run briefly through the main subheads of Vote 9. The largest items covered by Subhead A are the purchase of sites for new Garda stations, for a new Preventive Centre for young persons at Finglas, for additional accommodation for the Department of Agriculture, and for the acquisition of property in connection with the proposed major fishery harbours.
Deputies have been furnished with a statement giving particulars of the items for which provision has been made in Subhead B and while it is hardly necessary for me to go into the details, I would like to mention some of the most important works.
Despite the adverse weather conditions early this year which hampered building construction works, good progress has been made with the extension to Leinster House and it is hoped that the work will be completed before the end of 1964. As Deputies are aware, acoustic tiling was fitted during the Summer Recess of last year to portions of the ceiling of the Chamber. It has also been decided to introduce a low level sound reinforcement system in the Chamber. The scheme provides for the installation of a total of 72 microphones mounted on the desks in front of the members with a corresponding number of speaker units to be placed between seats at ear level. The work will be carried out when the Dáil rises for the Summer Recess.
As the boilers at the Central Heating Station in Kildare Place have reached the end of their useful life, their renewal by turf-burning plant has been provided for. In addition to servicing the existing group of buildings, this plant will serve the new extension at Leinster House now under construction.
The work of rebuilding the Cross Block between the Upper and Lower yards at Dublin Castle is proceeding and is expected to be completed towards the end of this year. This will provide accommodation for about 80 heads of staff of the Revenue Commissioners.
The planning of a new building to house the Stamping Branch, the Estate Duty Office, and other staffs of the Revenue Commissioners, totalling about 300 is at an advanced stage. Before work on this building can commence, however, it will be necessary to have alternative accommodation provided for the occupants of certain existing buildings on the site. In the circumstances it is not expected that the work will commence before 1965.
Provision has been made for work on the rebuilding of the burnt out Drawing Room at the State Apartments at Dublin Castle. The adjoining block generally known as the "Bedroom Block" has been found to be unsafe and it will be demolished and rebuilt along with the Drawing Rooms.
As I indicated in reply to a recent question a maquette of a statue of Thomas Davis is to be erected in College Green, has been approved and steps have been taken for the preparation of the full scale statue. The commission is being executed by the prominent Irish sculptor Mr. Edward Delaney whose design consists of a paved platform measuring about 55 feet by 18 feet by 9 inches high with a pedestal surmounted by a bronze figure of Davis approximately 10 feet high, and a circular pool embellished with bronze reliefs depicting Young Ireland. The execution of the work is, I am advised, a matter which cannot be hurried but it is hoped that the entire scheme will be completed in about two years time.
The architectural works at the Garden of Remembrance at Parnell Square are well advanced and should be completed by the autumn. The precise form which the Memorial Sculpture will take is being considered. Progress has continued with the improvement works at Dún Laoghaire Harbour. The final stage of the works has been postponed pending a decision by British Railways on the provision of a car ferry service. A provision for the ferry terminal is being included in case the project gets under way during the year.
A total provision of £625,000 is included in Subhead B for work to be carried out by the Commissioners of Public Works on the erection of Garda stations and married quarters and improvement to existing stations, for the erection of houses for married members of the force by the National Building Agency, and on the adaptation as a recruit training centre of the former McCann Military Barracks at Templemore, where work has now reached an advanced stage. Apart from the houses being erected by the National Building Agency, contracts have been placed for 24 stations and 33 married quarters. Tenders have been invited or will shortly be invited for a further eight stations and 12 married quarters. Sites are available at 46 other centres and are in progress of acquisition for an additional 18 centres.
Deputies will be interested in the proposed memorial to Gardaí who lost their lives in the performance of duty. It has been decided that this memorial will be provided at the Depot in the Phoenix Park and it is hoped to have it erected during the year.
Last year I spoke of the acceleration in the school building programme and I mentioned that it was hoped to maintain progress in 1962-63 by placing 130 new contracts. I am glad to record that my expectations have been exceeded with the placing of 171 contracts during the year bringing the number of projects now in course of construction to 198—137 new schools and 61 major improvement schemes— compared with 98 new schools and 65 major improvement schemes this time last year. The number of projects actually completed within the last financial year was 65 new schools with 9,122 pupil places and 70 major improvement schemes giving 1,392 extra pupil places. This may seem a fall back from 1961-62, but it really is not so. It just happened that the completion in a number of cases has been somewhat delayed, mainly by the severe weather in the beginning of the financial year and in January and February of 1963. The amount of work done in the year is reflected by the expenditure which reached the record figure of £1.8 million. It is expected that progress will be maintained in the current year, as planning was completed in 148 cases—103 new schools and 45 improvement schemes—in the past 12 months, and all these cases will have reached the construction stage in the current year. The provision to meet this programme is £1.9 million.
On the development side, progress has been made with the completion of new plans for small schools, two and three classrooms, which comprise about 65-70 per cent of the schools built each year, and the first schools built to the new design were recently completed at Tenure, County Louth, and Clondalkin, County Dublin. This is the first tangible result of the programme of research and development undertaken jointly by the Department of Education and the Office of Public Works to raise the standard of facilities in primary schools so that teaching techniques can progress in line with current and probable future trends. The intention is that the schoolhouse should come to be regarded not merely as a place of instruction but as a place where all child activities, including play, can find full expression and where children are given greater scope for the development of individual and creative expression than has been possible in the more formal atmosphere of the conventional classroom. The classrooms in the new schools will be larger than those provided heretofore in small schools, and the furniture will consist of light tables and chairs which can be stacked in a corner without much trouble, to allow more diversified use of floor area.
From the architectural viewpoint, the new plan is a great improvement. Classrooms and ancillary accommodation are grouped under a single rectangular roof. The roof, which is borne on cross walls, is independent of support from the front and back walls, and is economical in the use of timber. Classrooms, toilets, and cloakrooms are so placed that each classroom can form a self-contained unit. This renders a corridor unnecessary, and the extra space gained makes possible larger classrooms and direct cross lighting and ventilation. This improved building can be provided without extra cost. Savings of some 20 per cent in drawing office time and of 30 per cent in building time are expected.
These principles will be applied in due course to the big schools built by the Commissioners. Consideration is being given also to applying the same principles to the larger schools designed by private architects engaged by the managers in collaboration with the Office of Public Works.
Provision is being made for an extension to the National Gallery of Ireland, the cost of which will be borne entirely by the Exchequer. The new building will increase the hanging space for pictures by about 50 per cent, and it will contain a lecture theatre, an office for the director, and accommodation for temporary exhibitions.
A provision of £140,000 has been made for the development of major fishery harbours at Killybegs, Castletownbere, Howth, Galway and Dunmore East. The engineering investigations necessary for the development of the outline plans prepared by Mr. Bjuke, the Swedish consultant, are proceeding. It is expected that construction work will be commenced at Killybegs, Castletownbere and Dunmore East, in the current financial year.
A sum of £43,000 has been provided for improvement works in the fishery interests at small harbours around the coast. Work is in progress at Greencastle, County Donegal; Clogherhead, County Louth, and Ballyhack, County Wexford. It is hoped to start work during the year at Ballinacarta, County Donegal; Enniscrone, County Sligo, and Duncannon, County Wexford. Proposals for Kilmore Quay, County Wexford, are being investigated.
A considerable amount of work in agricultural interests is provided for including the building of large new schools for students at Athenry and Clonakilty. The same is true of building work for the Post Office services. The largest single item among the latter is the new central sorting office in Dublin, work on which is in progress. Other major works are proceeding at Arklow, Ballinasloe, Carrick-on-Shannon, Ennis, Limerick, Wicklow and Youghal.
The detailed planning of the new headquarters for the Departments of Health and Social Welfare is at a very advanced stage and it is hoped that it will be possible to invite tenders for the construction work about the end of the year.
The subheads from C. to H.2., inclusive, do not require comment from me except perhaps in regard to the national monuments service.
Last year I referred to my interest in national monuments and the idea I had that the various interests connected with the service could be unified under one authority, possibly a semi-State body. The National Monuments Advisory Council—my letter to which body I read for you last year—are in agreement and have submitted some helpful suggestions. So is Bord Fáilte Éireann, and there appears to have been favourable reaction by the public. The matter is now being considered Departmentally: this is necessary so that details may be covered and the implications fully understood before the Government are approached. I am sure that most Deputies will have seen or at least heard about the exhibition of photographs of national monuments held in March of this year at The Building Centre, Dublin. The exhibition aroused widespread interest and was very well attended. It will be available at other centres throughout the country; in fact, I expect that it will shortly be shown at the Ulster Museum, Belfast. Arrangements are in hand, with the kind co-operation of The Building Centre and Bord Fáilte, to have it available at centres in Britain and on the Continent.
The I group of subheads deals with arterial drainage and embankment construction works and associated services. Construction works are proceeding on the following five major catchment schemes: the Corrib-Clare in Counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon; the Inny in Counties Cavan, Longford, Meath and Westmeath; the Maine in County Kerry; the Moy in Counties Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo and the Deel in Counties Limerick and Cork.
In addition, works are in progress in two minor catchments of the Broadmeadow in Counties Dublin and Meath and the Killimor in County Galway. Embankment reconstruction and repair schemes are in hand on the upper Fergus estuary in County Clare and the northern bank of the Shannon estuary (Coonagh section).
The total cost of all schemes completed or in hands amounts to over £16 million benefiting some 400,000 acres of land. Embankment schemes for the Ballynaclough section of the Shannon estuary chain of embankments and for the lower Fergus estuary are in preparation and it is hoped that work will commence on these schemes this year. Surveys have also been undertaken of embankments in the Big Isle and the Castlewray and Thorn sections of the Swilly estuary, County Donegal. Survey and design work is proceeding on schemes for the Boyne in Counties Louth, Meath, Cavan, Westmeath, Offaly and Kildare; the Erne in Counties Cavan, Leitrim, Longford and Monaghan; the Suir in Counties Tipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny and Limerick; the Maigue in Counties Limerick and Tipperary; the Corrib-Mask in Counties Galway and Mayo, and the Quin in County Clare.
It is hoped to commence also this year engineering surveys of four more catchments, three majors, the Mulkear, the Boyle, the Owenmore (Sligo) and one minor, the Bonet. This would mean that 15 of the 28 catchments on the priority list of major catchments and eight of the catchments on the minor priority list will have been reached.
Progress is being made with the extension of the main arterial drainage programme to deal with what are called "intermediate rivers", small catchments with independent outfalls to the sea or larger lakes and which do not form part of listed catchments. One scheme on the Swilly downstream of Letterkenny is being carried out by direct labour and will probably be completed this year. A scheme for the Owvane, County Cork has been completed by contract. A contract has been placed for the Duff scheme in Counties Sligo and Leitrim. It is hoped to invite tenders shortly for a scheme for the Matt (or Ring) River, County Dublin, the Abbey River, County Donegal, and the Brickey River, County Waterford.
Schemes are being considered for the Lough Nahinch (or Carrigahorig), County Tipperary, the Assaly, County Wexford, the Glenamoy, County Mayo, the Knockcroghery or Ballyglass, County Roscommon, the Owenavoragh, County Wexford and the Creegh, County Clare. Engineering and valuation surveys of four more intermediate river catchments will be undertaken this year. A scheme of incentive bonus has been instituted in the Broadmeadow catchment and so far has proved mutually beneficial to the workers and the State. It is being closely watched and we are hoping that the results will justify attempts to extend it to other and bigger schemes.
I should mention that progress with arterial drainage has not been made easy by a continued shortage of engineering staff. Continued efforts are being made to recruit and I hope that in the coming year the position will be easier. I mentioned earlier the scheme for trainee architectural assistants. The Commissioners of Public Works hope to be able to inaugurate this summer a similar scheme for trainee engineering technicians and this would be a great help in relieving the engineers of the more routine work. A scheme for the training of apprentices to the fitting and turning trades was commenced in the Central Engineering Workshop, Inchicore, in September, 1962. Three apprentices were taken on. A similar number will be taken on each year.
Last year I drew attention to one particular item which although it did not appear in either Vote 8 or Vote 9 was, I considered, worthy of mention. This is the restoration of Kilmainham Jail. The building was handed over to a voluntary body which was set up with the object of having the building restored and in the comparatively short time which has elapsed since the handing over took place, great strides have been made towards the completion of the project. The work is being undertaken as a spare time activity by those engaged in it and a substantial part of it has already been completed. The trustees, the committee of management and the many voluntary workers are all giving their spare time, energy and talents generously to the tasks they have set themselves out to achieve and they deserve every possible credit and encouragement. I feel confident that all here will join with me in paying a well-deserved tribute to all those associated with the work in wishing them final success with their praiseworthy efforts.
Once again this year, I should like to assure Deputies that I am prepared to facilitate them at all times to the best of my ability and to furnish them with any information they may require regarding the services coming under the heading "Public Works".