asked the Minister for Health if he has received the unanimous recommendation of Meath County Council for an increase from £20 to £50 in that Council's grant to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; and if he will state (a) the date on which he received the recommendation, (b) the decision he gave, and (c) why such a decision was given, in view of the fact that the £20 grant has been sanctioned by him over a number of years.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Meath Council's Grant to Society.
8.
On 8 March, 1963, I received a proposal from Meath County Council for the payment of a grant of £50 to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. On 22 March, I replied to the Council informing them that they were free to pay an annual grant of so much as they thought fit but that only £25 of such grant would rank for recoupment from the Health Services Grant.
As explained to the county council in the reply mentioned, the reason for the limitation on recoupment from the Health Services Grant was that, while the work of the society in its own sphere is valuable, it is concerned more with social than with health matters and did not, therefore, merit a grant from health funds of the order proposed by the Health Authority. The society is essentially one which, by the nature of its work, should in my view seek to be supported by public subscription rather than by subvention from the funds of the local or central authorities.
Is the Minister aware that the society has been attempting to exist, not very successfully, on public subscriptions? How can the Minister explain that he will sanction a grant of a certain amount but not grant of a not much larger amount ? All 29 members of the Meath County Council thought that the grant of £50 was well worth while in view of the work the society is doing.
The members of the county council can, with due regard to their responsibility to the rate-payers, grant anything they may wish but I am not prepared to agree that more than £25 should be charged to the Health Services Grant.
May we take it then that £25 is the estimate of the Minister's appreciation of the type of work this society is doing?
No. That is an appreciation of the value it renders as a service ancillary to the health services of the State.
Would the Minister say if it is possible to get a grant from any other State Department? Will the Minister mention it to his colleague, the Minister for Social Welfare?
The Deputy had better address that question to the Minister for Social Welfare.