I move:
That a sum not exceeding £3,524,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1968, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Offices of the Minister for Lands and of the Irish Land Commission.
In line with the agreed procedure adopted for the past three years, I propose to take the Votes for Lands and Forestry together this year also. Accordingly, in my opening remarks I shall refer to Votes 34 and 35 and at the conclusion of the debate, the motion in respect of Vote 34 will be put to the House. Vote 35 will then be formally moved.
The Lands Vote (No. 34) shows a net increase of £369,000 compared with last year. I shall commence by explaining the salient features of this Estimate—especially those items which reflect a significant change from last year's provision—and continue with a review of the principal activities of the Land Commission during the year ended 31st March last.
Provision for salaries, wages and allowances is made under Subhead A. The additional amount, £33,000, required this year is attributable mainly to the effects of the tenth round salary and wage increases which were granted following the preparation of last year's Estimate and to normal incremental advances accruing to the staff. Last year I referred to the fact that I was arranging for a telling increase in the inspectorate staff. An extra 25 posts were authorised. A substantial number of these have now taken up duty and competitions will be held shortly to fill the remaining vacancies.
The first part of Subhead B relates for the most part to travelling and subsistence expenses incurred in connection with the inspection, survey and allotment of lands under the Land Acts. Provision for incidental and miscellaneous expenses such as advertisements, etc., is also included. The extra amount, £5,250, this year is required for the most part to meet the travelling and subsistence expenses of an anticipated increased number of staff engaged on outdoor inspection work and heavier outlay on miscellaneous items.
Part (2) of Subhead B provides for payment direct to the Department of Posts and Telegraphs for all services rendered by that Department. This has now become standard procedure. The total amount required this year is £50,100.
The moneys required under Subhead D are in the nature of statutory commitments. They represent the tax-payers' contribution in the current year towards the service of land purchase debt accumulated, since 1923, on both tenanted and untenanted land. The total contribution this year, £1,145,380, constitutes the biggest individual item in the Vote and represents nearly one-third of the entire net Estimate. Of the total subhead provision, some £988,700 will be utilised to make good deficiencies in the Land Bond Fund arising from the statutory halving of annuities under the Land Act, 1933. Indeed, the overall increase of £36,610 in the subhead this year is attributable mainly to the halving of purchase instalments payable by new allottees as land settlement proceeds. Deputies will, of course, be aware that under the provisions of section 7 of the Land Act, 1965, certain classes of persons who now receive allotments of land on an annuity basis in non-congested areas do not benefit from the halving of annuities under the Land Act, 1933—the classes being (i) recipients of enlargements, and (ii) cottiers and other persons who get allotments in non-congested areas. But all allottees in congested areas, together with migrants and displaced employees getting holdings in non-congested areas, continue to get the benefit of the halving of annuities.
Section 24 of the Land Act, 1965, provides that whenever a purchase annuity lapses by reason of the operation of the Statute of Limitations, 1957, the resultant deficit shall not remain a charge on the ratepayers but shall, where necessary, be defrayed out of public funds. A number of annuities payable out of holdings situated mainly on remote islands are becoming affected by the Statute of Limitations, 1957. Subhead D includes a sum of £140 to meet resultant deficiencies in the current year.
As this subhead is in four separate parts, I think I can best deal with it by referring to each part individually,
Subhead G. 1 involves two items, the purchase of land by the Land Commission for cash in the open market and the provision of life annuities under section 6 of the Land Act, 1965. Up to 1965, cash purchases under section 27, Land Act, 1950, were restricted to lands required for migrants' holdings or for rearrangement of fragmented holdings. As Deputies are aware, however, these hampering restrictions were set aside by the repeals section of the Land Act, 1965, and purchases for cash are now open to all the general purposes of the Land Acts. During the year ended 31st March, last, a total of 75 properties, aggregating 3,399 acres, were purchased for cash under section 27 at a price of £206,324.
Section 6 of the Land Act, 1965, provides the basic authority for the introduction of a scheme of life annuities for elderly, incapacitated or blind persons who voluntarily sell their interest in land to the Land Commission. At a special press conference held on 31st January last, I announced that, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, I had made regulations for the implementation of this scheme which is an entirely novel service within the land code. The objective is to facilitate land structure reform by encouraging elderly, incapacitated or blind farmers to retire from farming and make their lands available for land settlement purposes. Elderly people, especially those with no obvious successor, find the profitable use of land a burden—it gets beyond their physical capacity and too often they are unable to carry on in the face of growing difficulties. Socially and economically the most superior results ought to be obtained when land is in the hands of active persons.
The regulations define the categories of persons who will qualify for the purposes of the scheme. In the case of elderly farmers, a lower age limit of 60 years is prescribed; blind farmers are described as those who are in receipt of pensions as blind persons under the Old Age Pensions Acts; and incapacitated farmers are defined as those between the ages of 21 and 70 years who, by reason of physical illness, injury or infirmity are unable to carry out the normal duties of a working farmer and unlikely in the foreseeable future to be able to do so.
For the purposes of the scheme, the lands will be purchased by the Land Commission under the procedure followed in cash purchases under section 27 of the Land Act, 1950, as amended by the Land Act, 1965. Full market value for the land and buildings sold will be paid by the Land Commission either in (a) cash or (b) actuarial equivalent life annuity or (c) a combination of both, at the vendor's option. This option may be exercised at any time up to and including but not later than, the tenth day preceding the date agreed for the closing of the sale. In order to eliminate small payments, the amount allocated towards a life annuity must produce a minimum income of £52 per annum. Annuities will be calculated on the basis of actuarial tables approved from time to time.
Where a vendor who on the date of the closing of the sale is married and whose spouse, not being interested in the lands jointly or in common, is alive on that date, it is mandatory that the life annuity shall take a dual form, (a) a primary annuity to be payable until the death of either the vendor or the vendor's spouse, and (b) a secondary annuity—equal to half the amount of the primary annuity—payable from the death of the vendor or the spouse of the vendor until the death of the survivor.
The arrangements for payment of a primary and secondary annuity may also extend to any vendor who, at the date of the closing of the sale, is unmarried or a widower or widow and who wishes to nominate a dependent relative for the purpose. In contrast to the husband and wife arrangement, however, such nomination is entirely voluntary but (a) the nominated dependant must be a member of the family who is dependent on the earnings of the vendor and (b) the nomination must be approved by the Land Commission.
The scheme includes a number of attractive features. In the case of elderly or blind vendors, so much of the life annuity as does not exceed £3 per week will not be reckonable when computing means for Old Age Pensions Acts purposes. This aspect has already been provided for in the Social Welfare legislation code. An incapacitated vendor who qualifies for a life annuity may, at the discretion of the Land Commission, be paid an annual supplementary allowance not exceeding £123 10s until such time as he reaches the age of 70 years or shall have been awarded a pension as a blind person under the Old Age Pensions Acts.
If, up to and including, but not later than, the tenth day preceding the date agreed for the closing of the sale, a vendor, so requests, the Land Commission may, in their absolute discretion, grant him a right of residence for life in the dwellinghouse on the lands being sold to them. This right of residence may extend to the surviving spouse or approved dependant, as the case may be, but no further and will be subject to such conditions as the Land Commission may stipulate in individual cases.
The Land Commission will also be disposed to consider, where appropriate, the question of reletting a small area of accommodation land where a vendor so requests. It is encouraging to note that some 400 applications or inquiries relating to the scheme have been received to date and these are being investigated and processed as quickly as possible. The Land Commission inspectors have been instructed to be on the look-out for cases which appear to be suitable for the purposes of the scheme.
In order to allow for some expansion in the volume of purchases for cash and also to enable the scheme for payment of life annuities to be embarked upon, provision under Subhead G. 1 is being increased this year to £230,000. It is scarcely necessary to remind the House that the main bulk of land acquisition is financed in land bonds issued under Land Bond Orders made annually by the Minister for Finance. A new series of bonds of the total amount of £2 million, bearing interest at the rate of 7½ per cent per annum, was created by the Land Bond Order, 1967, for use in the current year. I am satisfied that the allocation now proposed together with the large amount of land bonds created by the last Land Bond Order, as well as the special Budgetary provision to which I shall refer later, should be sufficient to meet the needs of the land settlement programme this year.
The second part of Subhead G stems from section 5 of the Land Act, 1965, in which resides authority for the scheme enabling the Land Commission to make loans to progressive farmers in congested areas for the purchase of viable farms of their choice, subject to making their existing lands available to the Land Commission for land settlement purposes. As in the case of the life-annuities scheme under section 6, appropriate regulations have been made bringing what has come to be known as the Self-Migration Loans scheme into operation. This, too, is a new service, really a banking or credit service, under the Land Acts and will augment existing land settlement schemes. It will of course be additional to and not in substitution for the traditional migration programme carried out by the Land Commission.
The primary objective of the scheme is to facilitate the Land Commission programme of land structure reform in the congested areas as defined in the 1965 Act—Counties Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo and parts of Clare and West Cork. The scheme is intended to encourage initiative by providing necessary capital, through the machinery of the Land Commission, to enable progressive smallholders in the scheduled congested areas to improve their status by purchase in the open market of viable farms suitable to individual requirements, subject to making their existing lands available to the Land Commission as part of the loan arrangements.
Section 5, Land Act, 1965 defines a qualified person for the purposes of the scheme as a person, including a joint owner or tenant in common—
(1) to whom in the opinion of the Land Commission an advance ought to be made, and
(2) who is the tenant or proprietor of a holding which is—
(a) situate in a congested area,
(b) suitable, in the opinion of the Land Commission, for land settlement purposes, and
(c) agreed to be sold to Land Commission within such period as is specified in regulations under the section. Article 3 of the regulations specifies this period to be one year from the date on which the Land Commission agree to purchase the holding.
A qualified person under the scheme will be eligible for a maximum loan equivalent to three times the agreed market value of the holding being sold by him to the Land Commission, subject to the limitation that, save in very exceptional circumstances, the aggregate of the loan so calculated and the agreed market value of the holding being sold to the Land Commission will not exceed £10,000 in any individual case. To cater for qualified persons whose existing holdings have a market value of less than £1,000, however, the Land Commission will be prepared to make a loan of up to £3,000; the purpose of this provision is to ensure that even an uneconomic holder who is otherwise qualified under the scheme will be in a position to obtain an adequate loan to enable him to purchase a viable family farm.
Loans will normally be repayable as to principal and interest over a period of 35 years. The rate of interest will be the same as that prescribed in the Land Bond Order current at the date of sanction of the loan by the Commissioners—the current land bond rate is 7½ per cent. Loan repayments will not, of course, be subject to "halving" under the Land Act, 1933.
The scheme includes two main inducements:
(a) partial remission, on a sliding scale basis, of the first five instalments of principal and interest, that is, over the first 2½ years of the repayment period. This represents, in all cases, a substantial saving, in fact a free grant of approximately ten per cent of the amount of the loan or 2½ times a full instalment;
(b) payment by the Land Commission of a grant towards the borrower's expenses, for example, auctioneer's fees, solicitor's fees, removal costs, etc., in connection with or incidental to the purchase of the new holding. The amount of the grant will vary with individual cases having regard to the actual expenses involved, but it will not exceed ten per cent of the actual loan approved by the Land Commission in any particular case.
On top of all this, the scheme includes the very important concession that the borrower will not be liable for stamp duty in connection with the purchase of his new holding.
The holding being sold to the Land Commission as part of the loan arrangements will be paid for in cash in accordance with the procedure followed in purchases under section 27, Land Act, 1950. When agreement on price has been reached, the applicant will be advised as to the maximum amount of loan and grant for which he is eligible. He may by this time have selected a suitable alternative holding; if he has not done so, he will have a period of one year in which to "shop around". When the Land Commission are satisfied that the new holding is security for the loan being made by them and is not required for land settlement purposes, arrangements will be made to enable the applicant to conclude the purchase of the holding and at the same time to hand over possession of his existing holding to the Land Commission.
While the scheme is, of course, open to all qualified persons in the scheduled congested areas, I myself visualise that it will be particularly effective towards obtaining "key" lands for relief of congestion and rearrangement of fragmented holdings, for landowners who cannot immediately be migrated by the Land Commission or who may be unwilling to participate in the normal migration programme. Commenting in the Seanad as to how the scheme would operate in practice, I stated:
The intention is not that someone will walk into the Land Commission immediately some farm is advertised for sale and say he wants to buy it. This provision is intended to enable the Land Commission to pick out one or two progressive young farmers in a particular townland in a congested area and to tell them that, provided they leave their holdings for rearrangement amongst their neighbours, the Land Commission will be prepared to help them to buy good holdings in another area.
To date some 290 applications or inquiries relating to the scheme have been received. Of these 200 are from parties in the scheduled congested areas and only these are eligible for consideration. The Land Commission Inspectors are under standing instructions to be on the look-out for cases which appear to be suitable for the purposes of the scheme.
A sum of £100,000 is proposed for the scheme in the current year.
Subhead G.3 provides £10,000 for payment in cash of compensation for tenancy interests resumed on the small outstanding residue of Congested Districts Board estates. The fourth and final part of the subhead relates to the payment by the Land Commission of auctioneers' commission on relevant purchases of land for cash and land bonds. It is anticipated that £60,000 will be required this year. Again I wish to acknowledge the co-operation of auctioneers and the new disposition that has been found between them and my Department and I want to repeat what I said last year that this provision has proved a decided asset in inspiring the voluntary sale of properties; my own preference is for voluntary rather than compulsory transactions.
Subhead H provides the funds for payment of gratuities pursuant to section 29 of the Land Act, 1950, to persons displaced from employment on estates taken over by the Land Commission for distribution. Last year, gratuities totalling £14,452 were paid to 60 ex-employees—an average of £241 each. Perhaps I should reiterate that displaced employees who are deemed competent to work land are automatically considered for allotments —indeed, this is only right and proper —but, where they are not found to be suitable for allotments, they are considered by the Land Commission for a cash gratuity, depending on such factors as length of service, personal and family circumstances, availability of alternative employment and so on. It is difficult to make an accurate forecast of commitments under the Subhead in any particular year because this depends on the level of acquisition activity and the extent to which estate workers become displaced from employment through these activities. With continuing impetus in the acquisition sector, it is anticipated that £15,000 will be required for the current year.
Subhead I, in the main, provides the funds required to meet the cost of the various estate improvement works which are such an important feature of land settlement. These works include the erection of dwellinghouses and out-offices, the provision of access roads, fencing and drainage, provision of water supply for domestic and stock requirements, turbary development and repair and maintenance of embankments. Subhead I is invariably a popular debating sector in the Lands Vote; indeed it is the focal point of the Vote inasmuch as it finances one of the most essential features of the land structure reform programme. Last year this subhead had to suffer a substantial reduction due to acute pressure on resources. Expenditure for the year totalled £725,000, including about £422,000 on building works. Some 440 men were employed on the various improvement works and their wage bill amounted to almost £205,000.
For the current financial year the amount proposed under Subhead I is £850,000 which represents an increase of £175,000 over last year's provision, including about £30,000 to meet the cost of tenth round wage increases, and amounts to about 24 per cent of the entire Estimate. This increased provision will, I feel sure, be welcomed by Deputies, particularly those from rural areas, having regard to the importance of estate improvement and development works.
The sub-item entitled "Housing Loans" was inserted in the subhead last year as a new item. This refers to the scheme under which advances up to £500 are made to farmers to supplement grants from the Department of Local Government for the erection of new houses and for reconstruction work on existing houses. During the past year the total amount paid out by way of loans for this purpose was £90,000 to 200 applicants and it is estimated that for the current year £95,000 will be required.
The application of work study techniques to the estate improvement works of the Land Commission continues. There was a slight drop in productivity during last year due, it is believed, to the reduction in expenditure under Subhead I but I am glad to say that this downward trend has been reversed and in the last quarter of the year productivity equalled the figure for the same period in the previous year.
Last year Land Commission workers were granted an increase of £1 per week in basic wages in line with the tenth round of wage increases. In addition, an increase of 20 per cent in bonus at standard performance was granted.
The amount set aside for Game and Wildlife Development, £80,000, is an increase of one-third on the sum provided last year. Deputies will note that the ambit of the provision in Subhead L has been expanded to meet existing needs.
As in previous years, grants for the preservation and improvement of game resources will be available to assist Regional Game Councils, representative of all appropriate interests, in carrying out approved locally-organised schemes of direct improvement of game stocks and habitat.
During the past year the sum of £39,000 was paid out in respect of 23 schemes of game improvement and a further £5,000 was paid in respect of some previous years' schemes.
Progress in the improvement of game resources continues to be made by the active Game Councils and I would like to take this opportunity of congratulating these bodies on the good results being achieved.
Basically, however, we have had, up to now, to rely largely on general local expertise for our game improvement projects. Scientific research into the problems involved, with particular reference to the Irish environment, has been a long-felt want. I have now taken steps to remedy this deficiency, not only by the appointment of a scientific officer to my Department, to whom I will refer again later, but also by the commissioning of a programme of research on mallard and grouse to be carried out by An Foras Talúntais. It is expected that the information gained from this programme will result in a big improvement in our knowledge of how to improve the stocks of these species and in the methods of management of their habitats, and will prove of great benefit to the game resources of the country.
Management of habitat is increasingly recognised as a major key to an increase in stocks of wild game, particularly of water fowl and waders. Pending any re-appraisal of present policies and practices in the overall field of drainage, burning, clearances etc., I am having the matter of the provision of sanctuaries or refuges, particularly wetland refuges, pressed as a matter of urgency. I am convinced that this aspect of conservation must be dealt with nationally and I hope to make appropriate provision in proposals for legislation which I am at present considering. In this I am assured of the whole-hearted assistance and co-operation of the Irish Wildfowl Conservancy in the identification of a national network of refuges sufficient to provide for the minimal requirements of the various species.
A start has already been made here in the negotiations to establish the first national refuge providing for the Greenland White-Fronted Goose which is the principal wintering goose in Ireland. Deputies will be conscious of our European responsibilities in the field of conservation of migratory wildfowl.
Our responsibility extends, further, to the adequate conservation and the intelligent management of all native game and wildlife, including deer and wild birds. We are alive to the need here and my Department is actively studying the practical techniques of management and development.
I mentioned last year the arrangements that had been made for the specialised training of the scientific and advisory staff which had been recruited to the Game and Wildlife Branch of my Department. These officers have now taken up active duty in the Department and their skill and experience are being made available to Game Councils.
The scientific officer will be primarily engaged on research projects, including liaison with An Foras Talúntais, on that body's research on grouse and mallard already mentioned, but he will also be available to furnish advice on grouse and deer and on scientific aspects of game development.
The duties of the two game advisers will include the furnishing of advice to Regional Game Councils on organisation, game breeding and game development matters generally, the appraisal of special areas for game development and the assessment of the potential value and requirements of areas proposed locally as refuges or sanctuaries for game and wildfowl.
The various projects for the provision of shooting for visitors which are being supported by the Joint Committee on Game Development may expect to benefit likewise from the services of the scientific officer and the game advisers. This committee, composed of senior officers of my Department and of Bord Fáilte Éireann, has sponsored, to date, a total of 23 enterprises designed to attract shooting people to this country. In anticipation of an expansion in this business, I propose to make sufficient funds available to the committee to discharge its undertakings in the current year. The committee has supported a variety of projects so as to maximise experience in this special sector and, so far, some three or four distinct types of projects have emerged, catering for different tastes and pockets. It is hoped that the number of out-of-State visitors will show a steady rise.
As already announced, the Annual General Assembly of the International Hunting Council will be held in Dublin from 14th to 17th May, on my invitation. I regard the meeting here of this leading world sporting body, of which my Department is a member, as being particularly important for Ireland, both in regard to our game development programme and in relation to the overall interests of the tourist industry.
Bearing in mind the need for the modernisation of the law relating to game and wildlife, and their habitats, I have caused a study to be made of various proposals with a view to the framing of a comprehensive Bill. Those proposals already received have been assembled and edited in convenient form and have been circulated to Regional Game Councils and other interested bodies for further study and comment. Incidentally, the International Hunting Council, to which I have already referred, has a legal committee composed of experts in hunting and game law and I am taking the opportunity of their presence in Dublin this month to draw on their wealth of experience for comment on the various proposals received.
I have dealt in some detail with the more important subheads of the Lands Vote. As the remaining items are either unchanged from last year or else are token provisions, they do not seem to call for specific comment, but if Deputies wish to obtain further information about them I shall, of course, gladly supply it. I propose therefore to continue by reviewing the principal activities of the Land Commission during the year ended 31st March last. In some instances the statistics are still provisional but they are unlikely to vary to any significant extent from the final returns. Having regard to the financial limitations within which the Land Commission had to operate during the year, the over-all results are quite satisfactory.
On the acquisition side, the aggregate area inspected during the year was 100,000 acres while the total intake of land amounted to about 27,000 acres. As the total area in the acquisition machine at 31st March, 1967, amounted to about 80,000 acres, acquisition prospects for the current year are particularly good.
As regards land settlement, the total area allotted amongst some 1,860 allottees was in the region of 34,000 acres. The acreage distributed included the provision of 68 fully-equipped holdings for migrants and the rearrangement of 460 fragmented holdings. In all 118 new dwellinghouses and 193 new out-offices were provided for tenants and allottees during the year. With the increased funds which are now being made available I am hopeful that an accelerated rate of land division can be achieved in the present year. I am arranging too, to test out a system of bulk contracting for the erection of dwellinghouses as distinct from small separate contracts for individual estates, which we find sluggish and time consuming. The first invitation for tenders on a bulk contract basis for 20 houses in a picked geographical region will appear very soon.
The vesting of holdings and allotments was continued and, in all, approximately 2,200 holdings, parcels and rights of turbary were dealt with. Tenanted land—including residues of CDB estates—outstanding for vesting at 31st March, 1967, comprises approximately 6,200 holdings. These residual holdings, situated for the most part in western congested counties, now represent the remaining hard core of difficult tenanted land cases: they are being released for vesting according as the necessary rearrangement, enlargement or other improvement is carried out.
The position as regards collection of land annuities continues satisfactory. Out of a collectible total of £2,697,471 for the year, the amount actually collected by 31st March, 1967, was £2,531,030.
As Deputies know, there is now in operation a system of direct control by the Land Commission over the purchase of rural land by persons who are not "qualified persons" as defined in section 45 of the Land Act, 1965— principally non-nationals. The position generally now is that no interest in non-urban land can vest in a person who does not come within the categories of "qualified person" as defined in section 45 (1) of the Act except with the written consent of the Land Commission.
As I mentioned last year, the general guideline in force is that permission would not be granted to non-nationals to purchase land in order to engage simply in those forms or lines of production commonly practised by our own farmers; "white-elephant" properties unable or unlikely to attract Irish purchasers in the market could be entertained for sale to outsiders. A non-national who could illustrate that he was going in for some special line with expertise and capital to back it up, and with export possibilities, could very well be acceptable.
During the past year—apart from what might be called unobjectionable transactions, those (a) arising solely from mortgage interest, (b) involving areas not exceeding five acres and (c) representing transfers between one non-citizen, individual or company, and another—the total acreage in respect of which the consent of the Land Commission, pursuant to section 45 of the Act, was given to the vesting of interests in land in non-qualified persons as individuals or companies controlled by non-citizens was 4,700. A substantial proportion of this acreage consisted of the types of property which could hold no attraction for the ordinary Irish purchaser. The corresponding area for the previous year was 3,926 acres.
Before I conclude my remarks on the Lands Estimate, I must refer to an important new task to be undertaken by the Land Commission aimed at providing the vastly improved land structure pattern which is the essential foundation for a lasting solution to the western problem. The Government's distinct earnestness in their approach to the problem of the West is manifest from the wide variety of measures adopted in recent times to effect an improvement in the social and economic conditions obtaining there. In the context of the land settlement programme the big problem in the West lies in the preponderance of undersized and fragmented holdings—a great number of which are located on poor land often in remote and relatively inaccessible areas. It is difficult for farmers in these situations to earn an acceptable living. I do not have to be told that; I know it of my own personal knowledge.
The establishment of a pilot area in each of the 12 western and north-western counties was designed to show what could be accomplished by community effort, by intensive use of education and advisory services and by availing of all the grants and loans available so that other areas and eventually the West as a whole might be encouraged to adopt the same techniques and practices. I have long felt that land structural reform is a leading prerequisite to the economic development of the pilot areas and indeed of all similar small farm districts in the West.
The Government have recently accepted my urgent representations that an intensified programme of land settlement be initiated immediately by the Land Commission in the pilot areas, which are to be extended substantially, this effort to be additional to the normal annual land settlement programme. As announced by the Minister for Finance in his Budget Statement, it has been decided to make available an additional sum of £200,000 to the Lands Vote to finance this intensified programme in the pilot areas in the current year and later on I shall be introducing a Supplementary Estimate to provide this sum. Additional staff will, of course, be required and I intend to see that these will be provided.
It is the intention to mount this campaign vigorously in the years immediately ahead until the whole task is satisfactorily completed. Structural problems of fragmentation, intermixed rundale holdings and small non-viable units will be dealt with comprehensively. Utilising to the full the powers provided by the Land Act, 1965, particularly the new life annuity and self-migration loans schemes it is expected that vacant and derelict holdings and lands held by elderly and unprogressive farmers will be freed up and made available to assist materially in the implementation of the structural reform programme.
Turning to the Forestry Vote, there is a net increase of £508,000 in the amount being provided for 1967-68 compared with 1966-67. Apart from an increase in the planting programme, to which I will refer in a moment, the main factors contributing to this increase are the impact on forest operational costs of the tenth round and a lower revenue anticipation. There is also a significant increase in provision for development of the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial Park.
The House will recall that, when introducing the Estimate for Forestry last year, I referred to the Government's decision to confine the planting programme to 20,000 acres for 1966-67. At this early stage of 1967-68 the totals of planting proposals so far assembled are not far in excess of last year's programme of 20,000 acres, but, with some reliance on lands which will be acquired over the next few months, I am hoping that the programme can be increased substantially towards the figure of 25,000 acres. I have, in any event, framed this Estimate on the basis of planting 25,000 acres and full financial provision is available for that programme.
Taking the provisions in the Estimate now before the House in turn, Subhead A, £834,390, provides for salaries, wages and allowances and shows an increase of £74,390 over the provision for 1966-67. The increase, apart from allowing for the impact of normal incremental progression, covers also the effects of the tenth round and some strengthening of administrative, engineering and forester staff.
The increased provision of £15,500 on Subhead B1, £171,000 covers some increases in subsistence costs as well as normal increases in travelling arising from expansion of activities.
No change is anticipated in the overall cost of Post Office Services—Subhead B2, £34,000.
Subhead C1, £140,000 is a grant-in-aid for the acquisition of land. The balance in the fund at the end of 1966-67 was £173,931 so that a total of £313,931 will be available for the purchase of land in 1967-68.
Expenditure in 1966-67 was £118,952 in respect of 23,822 acres in 466 individual transactions. The productive area acquired at 18,314 acres was marginally above that for 1965-66. That level of acquisition last year just about kept our plantable reserve position in equilibrium despite the reduced planting programme and the normal pattern of including in the year's planting some areas acquired in earlier years which had originally been classified as unplantable. The nominal plantable reserve now stands at about 63,000 acres but this, of course, includes many areas which for one reason or another are not immediately available for planting.
The true or effective reserve immediately available is scarcely more than 50,000 acres and, as I have said, it may not in fact prove possible this year to plant as much as the 25,000 acres for which allowance has been made in framing the Estimate—even with some draw on lands acquired during the year. There is a fair amount of land on the way in, but present indications are that we will have difficulty in increasing the intake this year to much above the 1966-67 level. I am determined, however, that this problem of inadequacy of our plantable reserve must be resolved without delay and I have this whole question under active review in the Department to find an answer.
In some cases price is the obvious difficulty and we have, in fact, been prepared in recent times to pay more than the nominal ceiling of £10 per acre when we were satisfied that higher prices were justified by the economic return prospects and where the higher prices were not out of line with market value. The price question has to be kept under constant review but the answer to our acquisition difficulties certainly does not lie in across-the-board price increases.
We are, in fact, going a lot deeper into the question and reviewing our whole approach to the quest for forestry land. In a number of areas we have initiated up-to-date surveys to pinpoint expansion possibilities and these surveys will, I hope, be a first step towards a more active campaign to bring under tree crops as quickly as possible much of the land which can give the community a better return from forest development than from sub-marginal agricultural use.
Our working methods and approach to the real assessment of the suitability of each individual area for forestry purposes are also under the microscope. I believe we are making progress and, while I have sounded a note of caution in relation to the current year's prospects, I have in fact insured, in framing the Estimate, that we will have the money available if we do, in fact, secure a substantially increased intake even this year. If not, the balance will remain over to fund expansion in the following year.
Subhead C.2, £3,167,600, which covers the cost of forest development and management shows an increase of £246,100 on the provision for 1966-67. There has been a regrouping of the six parts of the subhead in order to bring the capital heads together. Thus the former heads (4) and (5) become heads (5) and (6) respectively while the former head (6) becomes head (4).
The use of improved techniques continues to be of assistance in keeping down costs at State forest nurseries and, despite the impact of the tenth round of wage increases and allowance for an expanding planting programme, the provision here, at £221,500, is only £9,000 in excess of the 1966-67 figure.
The provision for establishment of plantations, has been at £996,500, increased by £150,500 over 1966-67 as a result of the tenth round of wage increases and provision for the expanded planting programme both on labour and fencing requirement.
When introducing last year's Estimate, I stated that expenditure on road construction was expected to fall off, due partly to the trend towards better organisation of road construction programmes and elimination of costly methods associated with small isolated programmes, and partly through deferment of development by closer examination of the need for the construction of roads prior to their use for extraction. The continuing trend in this direction has resulted in a reduction in the provision under the heading of new roads and buildings of £42,000 to £403,000.
An increase of £61,000 to £379,000 in the provision for mechanical equipment for forest development and management arises partly from tenth round increases and partly from the need to expand the machine fleet, expenditure on which was cut back last year in view of the prevailing economic situation.
The provision of £1,037,600 for general forest management shows an increase of £77,000 attributable mainly to tenth round wage increases. The normal annual growth in expenditure under this head has been offset by the introduction of new, and more economic methods of controlling competing vegetation, one of the major elements of work in this sector.
The fall of £10,000 in the provision for timber conversion reflects the fall in the allowance for timber sales to which I will refer later.
The aggregate of the sums provided for labour under the various heads comes to £2,415,000 against £2,221,000 for 1966-67. The latter figure provided for 53 pay days as against 52 in the present year so that an effective increase of £236,000 in the provision for labour under Subhead C2 is being made. This increase reflects the tenth round of wage increases. The proposed provision is sufficient to cover approximately 4,350 men in 1967-68 as against 4,400 provided for in 1966-67 and an actual average of 4,135 men in that year.
Provision is being made for an increase in labour and running costs at the Department's fixed sawmills at Dundrum and Cong. The Estimate under this head shows an increase of £4,500 over the provision for 1966-67.
The provision for grants for afforestation is being maintained at the same level as in 1966-67.
The Department is continuing its effort to encourage private planting by offering a grant of £20 per acre, by the attendance of its mobile exhibit at show centres, by arranging lectures at a number of centres, by dissemination of information and by co-operation with voluntary bodies. Despite these efforts, however, private planting suffered a reduction from 1,054 acres in 1965-66 to 615 acres in 1966-67. This is the lowest level of planting for seven years and one can only hope that it was an exceptional year.
The provision for Forestry Education shows an increase of £3,500 on the provision for 1966-67. This is almost entirely due to the fact that provision is made for the first time for the running of a new training centre at Avondale House.
It is hoped that the reconstruction of Avondale House will be completed shortly. It will be used as a base for short refresher and advanced courses for forestry personnel and will fill an important role in keeping our forestry field staff of over 500 inspectors and foresters abreast of new trends and developments in management techniques, research findings, etc.
The provision for agency and other services shows a reduction of £7,990 as compared with the provision for 1966-67. The provision for 1966-67 included the cost of a comprehensive expert study of the economics of pulpwood utilisation in Irish conditions. This study is now in its final stages of preparation and the expenditure will not recur this year.
The provision for the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial Park shows an increase of £72,000 over last year's estimate. The Park is scheduled to be formally opened in May of 1968 and it is, of course, essential that buildings and roads be completed before that time. The bulk of such costs will, therefore, fall to be met in the current year.
Progress in the Park is most satisfactory and already a good deal of planting has been undertaken. A contract has been placed for administrative and reception buildings. The roads in the Park have been fully surveyed and road work will be commencing shortly.
I am very happy to take this further opportunity of placing on record in this house the Government's appreciation of the co-operation we have received from the American Committee at whose behest the project was initiated.
Subhead H, covers Appropriations-in-Aid which arise mainly, from the sale of produce from State forests. The allowance this year is £100,000 less than the allowance for 1966-67. Appropriations-in-Aid fell short by £157,000 of last year's allowance. The allowance for 1967-68 is therefore £57,000 in excess of actual income for 1966-67.
A number of factors, including a protracted strike at one processing firm and a recession in the constructional timber market, were responsible for the shortfall. The present estimate is based on the expectation of some improvement in the situation.
Before closing, I would like to refer briefly to use of the State forests for amenity and recreation. I have mentioned on a number of occasions my intention, as some of our older forests reached an advanced stage, to open them gradually for public enjoyment and recreation. The first step in this direction was taken in 1966-67 with the opening of the State Forest Park at Gougane Barra in County Cork. This project was the fruit of co-operation between Bord Fáilte Éireann, Cork County Council and my own Department and is proving a welcome addition to the amenities of the area. It was also found possible last year to open Glengarriff State forest for public enjoyment and to provide a viewing point at Dromore in Kenmare forest. Development of further forest parks is in hands at Glendalough, County Wicklow, Lough Key, County Roscommon and Killakee, County Dublin, all of which, of course, are already extensively used by the public. Many other State forests are under examination with a view to considering to what extent existing public access can be better served or new facilities provided.
The spread of State forest parks and small areas of recreation and amenity in State forests, is an important byproduct of the State investment in commercial forestry. It is my hope that the amenities of our forests will be enjoyed by as many of our citizens and tourists as possible. I would also hope that it will make the public even more conscious of the importance of safeguarding the heavy investment in State forestry from damage of all kinds.
The bugbear of forest fires has again been with us this year. Already since the beginning of March we have suffered the loss of 700 acres of State forest and the danger is not yet past. It is the duty of every right-minded citizen to ensure that he does nothing that will endanger further areas of the country's plantations.
I confidently recommend both these Estimates to the House.
