Sa dhá bhliain atá caite, a Cheann Comhairle, tógadh an Vóta do Oibreacha agus Foirgnimh Phoiblí agus an Vóta do Scéimeanna Fostaíochta agus Éigeandála d'aon iarraidh amháin agus, le do thoil féin, déanfad mar an gcéanna i mbliana.
Mar a léiríonn Leabhar na Meastachán, tá laghdú i mbliana in airgead an Vóta do Oibreacha agus Foirgnimh Phoiblí. Is feasach do na Teachtaí faoi láthair a riachtanaí atá sé smacht dian a choimeád ar chaiteachas an Stáit. Dá bhrí sin, ba ghá dhúinn roinnt scéimeanna a chur ar athló agus ní bheimíd i ndán cuid eile a chur i bhfeidhm chomh mear agus ba mhaith linn. Deineadh machnamh mion sar ar deineadh an laghdú i Vota a 8. Ocht milliúin dhá chéad tríocha is ceithre mhíle punt an t-iomlán is féidir a chur ar fáil dos na seirbhísí fén Vóta.
Is féidir saothar Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí a roinnt ina dhá chuid mhóra— seirbhísí ailtireachta agus seirbhísí innealtóireachta. Tabharfaidh mé cúntas ar an dá sheirbhís san ar dtús.
After the last war the Government determined to overtake the arrears of primary school building that had accumulated over half a century. They set a target of 100 new schools a year as well as 20 to 40 major improvement schemes. These numbers were not easily attainable. An increasingly large number of new schools was erected each succeeding year until last year when the targets were well exceeded. In that year 130 new schools were completed and major schemes of improvement were carried out at 66 schools. That gave a total of 196 modern buildings for the year. To illustrate the significance of this achievement I may mention that taking some previous years at random the number of new schools finished in 1956-57 was 64, in 1961-62 it was 81 and in 1964-65 it was 96. Since 1st April, 1950 over 1,100 new schools were built. That is nearly a quarter of the total number of primary schools in the State.
Deputies know that the Government intends to replace a number of one- and two-room schools with larger central schools. Apart from obvious educational advantages these central schools will have amenities which could not be provided in small schools. A fitted kitchen will enable light meals to be prepared for the pupils. A larger general purpose room will serve as a luncheon room. It will be equipped for use also as a library, assembly hall and for general recreation purposes. This will be a big improvement on existing conditions. Most of the old schools were draughty and badly lighted. Many were inadequately heated, had no proper play space and only poor sanitary facilities.
Our primary schools provide for almost half a million pupils. Last year 20,000 permanent pupil places were provided. I have not the figures for earlier years, but in the five year period since the 1st April, 1961, 77,000 places have been provided. This means that nearly one sixth of the pupils were catered for in new buildings in the five year period. I hope to have this satisfactory progress maintained. There will naturally be a reduction in the number of new schools but not in the total accommodation we will provide.
Urgent needs for schools have sometimes been met by pre-fabricated timber classrooms. They can be delivered, assembled and erected in a few days and they give satisfactory accommodation. They are durable and can be transferred elsewhere when no longer needed. Last year they were used to provide accommodation for 5,000 pupils in addition to the 20,000 permanent pupil places which I have mentioned.
We spent from State funds £3,123,000 on primary school building last year. The year before we spent £2,929,000 and in 1963-64 £2,326,000. The £2 million mark was never reached before 1963-64. As Deputies will see from item No. 27 of the List of Works included in Subhead E, I am asking for £2,760,000 for schools for the current year. This, despite the financial difficulties, is the third largest sum ever to be voted for the service in any year.
I now turn to our other architectural activities. Besides the sum of £2,760,000 for national schools, Subhead E provides for the erection and improvement of buildings for the Oireachtas and Government Departments and for development work at a number of harbours. I shall refer specifically only to the more important of these works or to others in which Deputies may have a special interest.
Last year a number of works of major importance was completed. In Wexford we have new Government offices which provide accommodation for the staffs of the Department of Social Welfare and the Revenue Commissioners as well as an automatic telephone exchange. The Garden of Remembrance at Parnell Square was officially opened on Easter Monday. The sculptural feature has still to be added. This will not be completed for another three years or so. A new Post Office and telephone exchange were erected at Youghal; four new customs posts were provided at Culloville and Inishammon, County Monaghan, Kilslean, County Donegal and Aghalane Bridge, County Cavan. New buildings at Athenry and Clonakilty agricultural colleges and a veterinary field station at Abbotstown Farm were completed. The temporary car ferry terminal at Dún Laoghaire was ready in good time for the opening of the ferry service in July, 1965; this was an engineering work provided for under Subhead E.
Work is going on well on the reconstruction of the drawingroom block at Dublin Castle. Progress with the extension of the National Gallery is also satisfactory and the job should be finished by the summer of 1968.
The work of extending and improving the accommodation at Leinster House is now in its final stages. The five office floors in the new extension have been completed and occupied since June. The new corridor linking the first floor of the extension with the landing outside the Dáil Chamber has now been completed. Work on the new kitchens and restaurants is also nearing completion and arrangements are in hands for the supply of the necessary furniture and equipment. We should be able to put the new restaurants into use after Christmas.
A total of £215,000 is being provided for new Garda stations and houses for married members of the Force and for improvements at existing stations throughout the country. Information about new stations is given in the Appendix to the List of Works.
I am asking for £313,500 for works for the Department of Agriculture. A new radiography unit, an improved operating theatre and an extension of the main buildings to give additional teaching facilities are to be provided at the Veterinary College, Ballsbridge; various improvements are being carried out at Abbotstown Farm and at the three agricultural colleges, Athenry, Ballyhaise and Clonakilty. The pig progeny testing station at the Munster Institute is now completed. Provision is included for regional veterinary and dairy produce laboratories. The veterinary laboratories will be at Cork, Limerick, Athlone and Sligo and the dairy produce laboratories at Cork and Limerick. Work on the laboratory at Sligo is nearing completion.
The major fishery harbour schemes at Dunmore East, Killybegs and Castletownbere are developing more slowly than I would have wished. As I mentioned last year, difficulties about the acquisition of sites at Dunmore East and Killybegs are delaying these schemes. We have to ask for additional powers to enable us to deal with the difficulties. Whilst the temporary car ferry terminal at Dún Laoghaire has worked well so far it is apparent that the increase in traffic will call for greater facilities than can be provided at that site. Work on a larger terminal has begun. The major portion of the job is a new pier which is being built by contract. We hope the entire work will be finished in 1968.
A sum of £280,000 is provided for the works for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs: £173,000 is needed for the new Central Sorting Office at Sheriff Street, Dublin and £70,000 for a new warehouse and other accommodation for the Post Office Stores at St. John's Road, Dublin. The sorting office ought to be in operation early in 1967, and the St. John's Road premises soon afterwards. The erection of a new post office and offices for other Government staffs in Carlow has begun.
Arterial drainage moneys are provided in the G group of subheads. G.2, the cost of construction works, and G.4, the cost of maintaining completed schemes, are by far the most substantial of the group.
The provision for G.2—Construction Works—is smaller than last year's but it will enable progress to be maintained on the three major schemes, the Inny, the Moy and the Deel, and on the one minor scheme, the Killimor, already in progress. I hope to start before the end of the year on the scheme which has been designed for the Corrib-Headford portion of the Corrib. This scheme will cost nearly a million pounds. It will benefit about 14,000 acres of agricultural land and more than 5,000 acres of bog.
Operations are continuing on the Shannon embankments and in the Swilly estuary.
The intermediate river works already in hands will be completed, but I do not intend to divert funds and resources from works on catchments included in the published priority lists for the purpose of starting new schemes on embankments or intermediate rivers. I know the need for drainage in the areas affected by the smaller rivers, but we can make the best use of the available funds, staff and machinery and more quickly resolve the national drainage problem by giving all our attention at present to the listed catchments.
The "Additional Minor Schemes", for the completion of which provision is made, are the Brickey in County Waterford and the Abbey in County Donegal. There will also be contract payments on schemes which were completed last year on the Duff in Counties Sligo and Leitrim and the Matt in County Dublin.
The maintenance provision under Subhead G.4 amounts to £150,000. It will continue to increase each year as drainage schemes are completed and more and more of them come to be maintained.
Eight major catchments are being surveyed or designed. They are the Maigue, Boyne, Corrib-Mask, Erne, Suir, Mulkear, Boyle and Owenmore. Two minor catchments, the Bonet and Dunkellin, are at the same stage.
I hope, within months, to have the design for the Maigue and the Boyne ready. The design for the Erne will follow soon after. If these schemes are found to be economic, the usual requirements of the Arterial Drainage Act, which include local exhibition and consideration of the observations of parties concerned, will have to be complied with before the schemes can be confirmed and works commenced. I expect work on the Maigue and the Boyne to start in 1968.
The White Paper on Public Capital Expenditure, before the House in the autumn, 1965, indicated that adjustments in the capital programme would be necessary so that priority can be given to projects immediately productive. One project which has had to be postponed is the further investigation of the Shannon catchment and the preparation of an arterial drainage scheme. When I referred to the Shannon survey programme last year, I intended that it should commence then. Some staff was diverted to the Shannon from other projects, but change in financial circumstances made it impossible to continue. The Shannon investigations will proceed as soon as funds are available.
In October, 1965, I visited Belfast and had discussions with the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture at Stormont about matters of mutual concern, mainly cross-Border drainage. The meeting was followed by further discussions between civil servants. As a result of these discussions, investigations of two joint projects have been commenced this year, namely, the drainage of the Kilcoo in Counties Leitrim and Fermanagh and of the Finn in Monaghan and Fermanagh. A scheme for the catchment of the Burnfoot and Skeoge rivers, County Donegal, is in contemplation. It would have the incidental result of relieving conditions on the other side of the Border, around Derry city.
The F Subheads provide for the cost of the upkeep of State premises and property.
Subhead F.1 includes the maintenance of parks. I should like to say a few words about the Bourn Vincent Memorial Park, at Killarney. I think much more can be done to develop further this national park and major tourist attraction. The work of opening up views, providing car parks, replanting, and improving the rock gardens and pleasure grounds is going ahead, but there is need for better planning for development. Some time ago I set up a committee representative of the various bodies interested in the park for the purpose of co-ordinating activities and helping in the formulation of a long-term development plan. I have also arranged with An Foras Forbartha for the employment of a consultant to carry out a survey of the scenic, historic, scientific and tourist values of the Killarney Valley and particularly of the national park. An interim report by the consultant has just been received and is being considered. In this way, I hope to ensure that improvements within the park will be carried out in harmony with the general development of the Killarney area.
A flock of black-faced mountain sheep has been kept in the park for many years and in 1954 facilities were given to An Foras Talúntais to carry out research into the improvement of mountain sheep and hill grazing. The programme turned out to be more extensive than had been expected originally. On reviewing the detailed proposals, I decided that a national park was not an appropriate place for carrying through an agricultural research programme on the scale suggested. Also, it is highly desirable that the Commissioners of Public Works should have sole responsibility for agricultural activity in the park. In addition, tourism is of prime importance in the Killarney area and wrong policy decisions in the national park could do much harm to the tourist industry. I have, therefore, asked An Foras Talúntais to taper off their programme and they have agreed.
Two species of deer live in the park, native red deer and Japanese sika. The red deer are unique in the sense that they are generally recognised as being the only herd of this species in the country which is descended from indigenous wild stock. Particular attention is being paid to the welfare of both species of deer in the park.
The Forestry Division of the Department of Lands are using portions of the park for afforestation purposes. They have constructed a number of roads to give access to the forest areas. These roads could not be used generally in the earlier stages of forest work, but the time has come to throw most of them open and give the public the opportunity of visiting the more remote parts of the Park. The clearing and opening up of areas and the signposting of roads, walks, viewpoints, climbing routes, etc., will be continued.
I should like to refer also to the Phoenix Park here in Dublin. The number of motorists going there on Sundays and during holidays is increasing year by year and something of a problem is arising. Hundreds are parking and picknicking on the grass, despite warning notices. At some places considerable damage has been done to the sward. The Commissioners will try to meet requirements by providing car parks at suitable centres.
The provision under subhead F.3 for rents, rates, etc., on State occupied premises is £425,000, which is £85,000 greater than last year's figure. The increase results from the need to lease accommodation in Dublin for the staffs of various Government Departments. Since 1922, many new services have been established by the Government and others have been greatly extended. Accommodation for these services has been inadequate. Only a small number of purpose planned buildings has been provided. The Office of Public Works has had to rent or buy old buildings, few of which were designed to be used as offices. The supply of old buildings is, of course, limited and many of those which were acquired decades ago are no longer usable. They do not conform to the statutory standards of office requirements and overcrowding of staffs is too common.
Another undesirable feature is the dispersal of the staffs of single departments over several different buildings. Virtually every Department suffers from this handicap. The staffs of two of the most important Departments, Finance and Agriculture, are scattered over no fewer than 16 different buildings throughout Dublin. Anyone giving the matter a serious thought will realise that such a situation is bad from every point of view and that the sooner it is remedied the better. Proper accommodation is an essential prerequisite of efficient administration.
During the past year or two the Office of Public Works has rented space in a number of the modern office blocks recently erected in Dublin. They include the Cómhlucht Siúicre Éireann building in Earlsfort Terrace, O'Connell Bridge House, the Rank Building in Hawkins Street, Liberty Hall and Ansley House in Mespil Road. The average annual rent we have to pay for this space is about 17/4d per square foot. In relation to current costs, this is at least as favourable as the rate paid by many business concerns in the city for similar facilities.
The alternative to the renting of space in new buildings would be that the State would design and erect its own buildings. While that would undoubtedly be the ideal solution of our accommodation problem the amount of capital required to carry through such a programme would be enormous. In recent and present circumstances it could be made available only at the expense of vital services. Clearly, then, the only practical solution to the problem, though not, as I have indicated, the ideal one, lies in the renting of space in modern office blocks constructed by private enterprise.
The provision of £5,000 in Subhead I is to meet the cost of maintenance of the coast protection works completed last year at Rosslare Strand, County Wexford. The Coast Protection Act, 1963, provides that maintenance will be carried out by the Commissioners of Public Works and the cost recovered from the county council. We have received proposals for works under that Act for some forty areas. Preliminary examinations have been made in six cases and reports have been furnished to the county councils concerned. In present financial circumstances it has been found necessary to defer further consideration of coast protection proposals in favour of more productive works.
The provision for the National Monuments Service is the same as last year. I should have liked this figure to be increased, but that cannot be done at present. A good deal of useful work will be done for £60,000.
The example given by the Kilkenny Archaeological Society and by Father Egan of Ballintubber has excited increasing interest in our monuments. One of the consequences of this is increasing pressure on the Commissioners to take further monuments into their charge. There is little if any advantage in the acceptance of responsibility for any monument until maintenance and preservation works can be guaranteed. Work on monuments calls for a high degree of skill and care and workmen and supervisors must be specially trained. The number of these skilled and trained men available at present is very small. Deputies know that a co-ordinating committee now exists on which the Departments and other bodies concerned with national monuments are represented. Urgent works to prevent deterioration will continue to be carried out by the Commissioners on their own initiative. I need hardly say that the Commissioners cannot spend money on any monument unless it is owned by the State or is in its guardianship.
Improvements have been carried out in the precincts of the Pearse Cottage, Rosmuc, and the cottage has been refurnished as closely as possible to what it was in Pearse's day. A scheme to improve the amenities is being worked out by An Bord Fáilte. The restoration of Rothe House, undertaken by the National Monuments Branch for the Kilkenny Archaeological Society and Bord Fáilte has been completed: I must pay a tribute to the members of that Society not only for their initiative about Rothe House but also for their keen interest in monuments generally and their energy and devotion in carrying on the best traditions of the oldest archaeological society in the country.
I must also pay a tribute to Father Egan, whose abilities have already been publicly acclaimed, and compliment him on his good taste and wonderful perseverance in seeing that the church at Ballintubber Abbey was restored. The work was carried out by the National Monuments Branch of the Office of Public Works on behalf of Father Egan, and at his expense. The 750th anniversary of the foundation of the Abbey in 1216 was celebrated and 8th September, 1966. The interior of the church was planned to conform with the new Liturgy and Mass was celebrated for the first time at the new High Altar in the presence of An tUachtarán and high dignitaries of Church and State.
The ruins of the cloister and monastic buildings are in the guardianship of the Commissioners since 1962. Repair and preservation works to these have been virtually completed. Conservation work at Derrynane Abbey is progressing satisfactorily. Conservation of a number of other monuments such as Kilcooly Abbey near Urlingford; Cahir Castle, County Tipperary; Kells Priory, County Kilkenny; and Liscarroll Castle, County Cork is going ahead.
Work has also begun in County Louth on the field stage of the archaeological survey of the country. It is planned to make a detailed, systematic, county-by-county survey. Aerial photography will play an important part in locating and identifying remains and the Air Corps is co-operating fully in this very important enterprise.