I move:
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £10 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1971, for salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Defence, including certain services administered by that Office; for the pay and expenses of the Defence Forces and for payment of a grant-in-aid.
The main Estimate for Defence for the year ending 31st March, 1971, which was passed by the Dáil on the 11th December, 1970, was for a net sum of £14,308,000. By way of comparison, the original net Estimate for the financial year 1969-70 was £12,852,000 but, by reason of supplementary estimates and a transfer from the Vote for Remuneration, this was increased to a total of £14,709,010. In the same way it is now necessary for me to present a substantial supplementary estimate additional to the token one of £10 which I have just moved. It is being circulated to Deputies today and is for a net sum of £4,480,000. It is necessitated by pay increases and other factors to which I shall be referring in my statement.
As Deputies are aware, the demands on the permanent Defence Force have been exceptionally heavy for the past year or more. In addition to its ordinary duties and its contribution to the United Nations peace-keeping commitments, there has been the additional dimension of duties in aid of the civil power arising from events in the Six Counties. In this, the permanent Defence Force has had the assistance of the First Line Reserve, some members of which remain called out on full-time service. It has had equally valuable assistance from An Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil, whose members have responded in an admirable way to the demands made on them for week-end and other forms of part-time service and have thus made a most important contribution to our overall defence requirements during a particularly difficult period. To all components of the Defence Forces, therefore, as well as to the military heads, I pay tribute for the excellence of their service and their devotion to duty during a period of great strain. I include in this tribute that excellent group, An Slua Muirí, the members of which, in common with all those members of An Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil who were not called on for special duties, earnestly carried on their ordinary training activities.
At present an infantry group of approximately 430 officers and men are serving in Cyprus as a contingent of the United Nations peace-keeping force on that island. When they complete their term of duty, a total of about 8,100 all ranks will have served there. I visited the Irish troops serving in Cyprus last October. I met every officer and man, inspected their accommodation and saw for myself the conditions under which they operate. I was greatly impressed by their bearing, discipline and devotion to duty. As well as being peace-keepers, they are fine ambassadors for our country. Representatives of the Cypriot people, both Greek and Turkish, were unanimous in their praise of the Irish troops whose integrity and ability to cope with delicate situations has impressed all who came into contact with them. Everywhere I went there was evidence of the high esteem in which our troops are held.
Peace-keeping work calls for watchfulness, patience and tact to an exceptional degree. The observer posts, which have to be manned for 24 hours a day, are often located in isolated places which can be reached only with difficulty. In general, the troops have better accommodation since they were moved early last year to their present location from the north of the island. For one thing, canvas is used to much lesser extent. In the course of my discussions with the force commander following my tour of inspection, I found him very sympathetic towards certain improvements I suggested. It must be borne in mind, however, that the United Nations mandate in Cyprus has never been for longer than six months at a time and, of course, the aim is to arrive as soon as possible at a situation where it can be terminated altogether. In these circumstances and having regard to the financial limitations within which the organisation has to operate, I am satisfied that every effort is being, and will be, made by the UN authorities to provide an acceptable standard of accommodation. I did not have an opportunity of seeing much of the accommodation occupied by other contingents but my inquiries lead me to believe that the Irish accommodation compares favourably with the rest.
I should not omit an appreciative reference to the smaller and less publicised group of 21 officers serving with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation in the Middle East. Thirteen are in the Suez Canal section, and the remainder are deployed in Damascus, Tiberias and Jerusalem. Deputies will be aware of the very tense situation in this region. This is still another valuable peace-keeping contribution by our Defence Forces.
We can all take pride in the fact that this country is playing its part in the maintenance of peace in Cyprus and in the Middle East and that our Army is serving us very well indeed in these undertakings.
As regards the recovery of extra and extraordinary expenses arising from the Cyprus operation, I realise that some Deputies feel a degree of anxiety about the recovery prospects. Actually, on our experience, I am prepared to believe—or at least to feel some confidence—that this position will adjust itself. In round figures, we have made claims amounting to £2,724,000, and, of this, £2,162,000 has been paid, leaving a balance outstanding of £562,000. This consists of claims made since August, 1969, the latest being one made this month. The question of the repayment of the outstanding amount is being pressed vigorously with the United Nations, which has its own financial difficulties with regard to peace-keeping missions due to the unwillingness of certain member countries to make the necessary funds available. As I say, I have hope that the position will adjust itself, as it has done in the past despite similar difficulties.
I have spoken of the heavy demands made on all components of the Defence Forces in recent times. It is, therefore, pleasant to be able to say that, in the present financial year, Army pay has been increased three times. The first of these increases arose from the deliberations of a working party from the Departments of Finance and Defence; it was back-dated to the 1st June, 1969. The others were the two phases of the twelfth round, effective as from the 1st April, 1970, and the 1st January, 1971. The extent of these increases is shown by the provision in the Supplementary Estimate. These adjustments provide appreciable increases for all ranks and make Army service a very attractive career for interested young people.
In addition to the actual pay increases, some fringe benefits recommended by the working party have also been implemented. The most notable of these, for officers, are the provision of annual instead of biennial increments and the introduction of a scheme giving enhanced starting pay on promotion to certain ranks. In the case of men, ration allowance has been increased and married men no longer suffer a reduction in their remuneration in respect of rations officially provided while on temporary duty away from home. Children's allowances for men have been extended to cover dependent children up to the age of 21 years who are at school or college or who are invalids.
Also introduced was a scheme of removal expenses for married officers and men on permanent transfer from one station to another. When dealing with the Estimate for Army Pensions, I shall be speaking of substantial improvements also in that field. I think it well to point out that these pay and pension improvements had not evolved at the time the main estimates were prepared, and, were not, therefore, included in them.
To bring the position of married soldiers into line with that of employees generally in the public sector married rates of pay have been introduced. This means that the married soldier now personally receives his entire remuneration but it is permissible in certain circumstances, e.g., during overseas service, for men to make voluntary allotments.
Whatever the demands otherwise, ordinary Army life must go on, and it may interest Deputies to know of developments in matters which have been mentioned on previous occasions.
Thirty-one non-commissioned officers successfully completed a potential officers' course of approximately ten months duration and were commissioned on 7th December, 1970. It is hoped, by having schemes of this kind periodically, to afford an opportunity to suitable non-commissioned officers, who make soldiering their career, to attain commissioned rank in the permanent Defence Force.
In pursuance of the decision to have the training of cadets associated with university studies, 14 cadets appointed in 1968 completed their first year at University College, Galway, and all passed their first year university examinations. The faculty courses which they are pursuing are arts seven; science four; commerce two and engineering one. These are now commissioned officers. A further 15 cadets of the 1969 class commenced their first year at university in October, 1970. Their courses are arts four; commerce four and science seven. These 29 undergraduates are accommodated in Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa, Galway.
I should also like to refer to the educational training of non-commissioned officers and privates. In September, 1969, a scheme was introduced under which men of the permanent Defence Force are given an opportunity of attending courses of one year's duration at vocational schools with a view to their obtaining the day group certificate. The purpose of the scheme is to raise the educational standard of the men which would, in turn, assist in their resettlement in civilian life. Attendance at the courses is on a voluntary basis and the cost is borne by my Department. A total of 152 men commenced classes at eight different centres in 1969. Of these, 109 completed the course and 63 were successful in obtaining the day group certificate. A total of 116 men commenced the course this year at seven different centres. In addition, special arrangements were made for 36 men to commence a two-year evening course leading to the leaving certificate, the fees being paid by my Department.
Arrangements were made in 1969 for the attendance of a number of Army personnel, aged between 44 and 52, at courses of training in such skills as turning, grinding, milling and welding at the Galway Industrial Training Centre which is under the control of AnCO. The purpose of this scheme is to assist in the resettlement of men in civilian life. Four men completed a full-time course in welding at the Galway centre in July last. Three others have since commenced courses of training in lathe operating and mechanical assembling and welding at the same centre. Arrangements have also been made for the attendance of Army personned at training courses at the AnCO Training Centre at Shannon.
These are very gratifying developments and I think that I might link with them the training of apprentices at the Army Apprentice School, Naas, and at the Air Corps Apprentice School, Baldonnel. At Naas, basic training is provided in such trades as carpenter and joiner, fitter, armourer and electrician while, at Baldonnel, apprentices are trained as aircraft mechanics. There is close liaison with AnCO in the running of both schools. The usual annual competitions for entry to the schools were held in 1970 and a total of 64 new apprentices was recruited.
Deputies will appreciate the benefits of all these projects. They are of benefit to the Army itself; they fit men for entry to civilian life when their Army service has ended and they add to the national pool of skills and are a help to industry. It would be my hope that all these schemes can be developed further.
I should like to pay a tribute to the Air Corps helicopter service which, by now, has become well established and has evolved a tradition of its own. The primary purpose of the service is to carry out air/sea rescue work and to render assistance as necessary in other emergencies. This primary function must take precedence at all times over any other use.
During 1970, helicopters carried out 33 rescue missions of various kinds. In addition, during the same period they carried out 52 ambulance missions which involved mostly the conveyance of seriously ill or injured patients from provincial hospitals to Dublin hospitals for special treatment. I am pleased to be able to say that in no case was it necessary to refuse a request for helicopter assistance for rescue or ambulance work.
The question of vessels for the Naval Service has evoked considerable interest for some time. Now that the stage has been reached where two of the corvettes have been sold and the third is due to be taken out of service shortly it would be appropriate to refer to the very effective role played by these vessels since they were purchased in 1946-47. Although they had their drawbacks — as might be expected in vessels built to meet special combat requirements — they proved to have good sea-keeping qualities, capable of withstanding Atlantic weather, and they carried out efficiently their fishery protection duties.
As Deputies are aware, a new all-weather fishery protection vessel is on order from Verolme Cork dockyard and is due for delivery at the end of March, 1972. This specially designed vessel will be up to modern merchant shipping standards of accommodation and fittings and should be most effective in the specialised fishery protection role proposed for it.
For a long time past inquiries have been in progress in regard to the availability of other suitable vessels. As I announced some time ago, agreement was concluded with the British Ministry of Defence for the purchase of three vessels of the coastal minesweeper class. I expect that the first of these vessels will be in service here by mid-February and the other two about mid-March. They are in first-class condition, little used and well maintained. The names chosen for them are Gráinne, Banba and Fóla. I understand that coastal minesweepers have been found effective elsewhere on fishery protection duties in addition to their naval role.
The total cost of the ships with stores and equipment is expected to be of the order of £640,000 and provision for the payment of £590,000 of this sum is made in the Supplementary Estimate. The balance is expected to be paid in the financial year 1971-72.
It has been decided to introduce a new type cloth for uniforms for both the Army and the FCA as soon as stocks of the existing cloth, which are considerable, are used up. The cloth will be made in this country. It will be lighter in weight and have a much improved appearance. It will take about a year and a half before uniforms in the new material become available. Combat uniforms have also been approved. This uniform consists of an outer waterproof tunic and trousers and a number of accessories and linings which can be varied to suit conditions. The accessories and linings are being obtained in this country, but so far it has not been possible to obtain suitable material here for the outer tunic and trousers, and for the first issues it was necessary to obtain supplies abroad. A contract has now been arranged to have them made in this country and it is hoped that all future requirements will be obtained here. Every effort is being made to have suitable material made in this country. The combat uniforms are for field training, patrols and operational duties.
The improvement of accommodation in barracks is given high priority within the limits of the money available. For instance, there is a continuing programme for the conversion of large billets into individual cubicles. While married soldiers are entitled, like other members of the community in the same income group, to local authority houses, my Department have been supplementing local authorities' efforts where the need is greatest. The Department have built 176 houses since 1955 and have improved a large number of existing married quarters.
New structures for the accommodation of company headquarters of An Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil are planned for various areas in which the existing premises are not suitable. One such building was opened recently at Killorglin, County Kerry, and another is almost ready for occupation at Wicklow. A site for construction of yet another company headquarters at Navan has been secured and it is hoped, within our available resources, to continue to provide such new accommodation where it is considered to be necessary.
The possibility of disposing of lands surplus to military requirements has for some time been under examination in my Department. It has been found possible in recent months to sell 40 acres of land at Tallaght, County Dublin as well as an area of 79 acres at Fort Davis, Whitegate, County Cork. The land at Tallaght has been sold to Dublin Corporation on agreed terms. The land at Fort Davis is being sold to a private purchaser following competitive tendering.
Coming to civil defence, the Estimate for this service follows the same broad pattern as last year. Again, Deputies will be interested in a general picture of the present position of Civil Defence.
Some 8,300 Civil Defence volunteers underwent training at 400 training centres in the financial year 1969-70; more than 4,000 attended 15 week-end camps and 8,000 participated in 91 field days and exercises. Thirteen local week-end courses, at which a total of 550 volunteers attended, were also held. Special courses at the Civil Defence School were attended by 414 persons.
I should like to mention in regard to the manpower of the organisation generally that it is not expected that volunteers who have completed training in their chosen service should continue attendance at local training one year after another but they are welcome to do so.
A special check was made in 1969 of the effective strength of Civil Defence volunteer personnel throughout the country. Of more than 26,000 trained volunteers who were asked in writing if they intended to continue membership of the Civil Defence Organisation, and to report for duty if required in an emergency, some 14,500 replied in the affirmative. This outcome is regarded as very satisfactory. It should, of course, also be borne in mind that those who have fallen away are not a complete loss. They have received training in civil defence and, in an emergency, even if they did not volunteer to help on an organised basis, the knowledge which they have acquired could not but be of appreciable benefit to themselves, their families and their neighbours.
Progress continued to be made in the establishment of protected county control centres from which civil defence operations would be directed and co-ordinated in an emergency. Sixteen of these have been completed or almost completed. Of the completed controls one is the regional control for the Counties of Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow which also incorporates the control for Dublin city and county. The location of two other regional controls has been approved and work on them has been authorised.
As Deputies are aware, a Civil Defence handbook was issued to every householder in 1965. This handbook gives guidance as to how individual homes can be prepared to mitigate the effects of radioactive fallout should it ever affect our country. A further distribution was made in 1968 by local authorities to houses built since 1965. Arrangements will be made for a further issue to houses built subsequently. I should like to stress the importance of this handbook. Copies of a short 16 mm film based on ideas drawn from the handbook have been distributed to each local authority. The film is being shown in local halls to the public. It can also be shown to groups who would have an opportunity of discussing its implications with local civil defence personnel and thereby obtain an awareness of the importance of civil defence generally.
I should like to refer at this stage to the benefit derived by the country from civil defence having regard to the amount of money being spent on it. The position is that civil defence, being part of the general defence structure, is a form of national insurance. Since 1951 the total expenditure by the State and the local authorities on the organisation has been £2,800,000 approximately, which represents an average annual cost of about one shilling per head of the population. That, in my opinion, is cheap insurance. The expenditure covered the cost of recruiting, training, clothing, maintaining and equipping all volunteers who joined the organisation. A substantial part of it was spent on equipment, uniforms and accommodation the bulk of which is intact and expected to remain serviceable for several years to come. In return for this relatively modest expenditure the country has been provided with a civil defence organisation capable of rendering vital assistance in war-time. The organisation has rendered valuable assistance in peacetime also in humanitarian work of various kinds.
I should like to thank all those members of civil defence throughout the country who give this most praiseworthy voluntary service to their local authorities and to the State. I am always gratified when I hear of the attendance of Civil Defence personnel at local emergencies, bringing succour to those affected by any of the natural calamities that occur in peace time, and I have no doubt that this is fully appreciated by those who have been so helped. I would also like to thank those members of the Oireachtas and of local authorities who continue to give encouragement to the members of Civil Defence at local authority meetings and at Civil Defence functions.
The Irish Red Cross Society continues its excellent work. At home, its activities include courses in first aid, home nursing, water safety and life saving; training of young people in the service of others through the junior Red Cross; care of the aged through home visitation; the organisation of outings, clubs and home helps.
The society's greatest single activity in Ireland during recent times, however, has been relief work among refugees from the Six Counties. The society has provided volunteers from among its members to work in the Army refugee centres. There are about 40 refugees at present accommodated and fed by the Army at Kilworth Camp. Among the activities organised by these Red Cross members are care of the old people and children, a meals-on-wheels service for refugees confined to bed, a play centre for the young children and a distribution store where clothing and all other essential goods are available. When necessary Red Cross volunteers also accompany refugee patients to and from hospital.
I wish to thank the society and all those who have supported the relief operations and assisted in easing the hardship which the disturbances caused to so many people.
The main Estimate for Army Pensions, also passed by the Dáil on the 11th December last, was for a sum of £3,557,400, as compared with £3,351,870 for the financial year 1969-70 after the addition of supplementary estimates and transfers from the Votes for increases of remuneration and pensions. Recent improvements in benefits now necessitate a supplementary estimate, which is also being circulated to Deputies, for a sum of £268,000, and there will also be a transfer of £288,490 from the Vote for Increases in Pensions in respect of the increases for which the 1970 Budget provided.
Non-pay-related pensions and allowances were increased by 14½ per cent and pay-related pensions were brought up to the 1st June, 1968, level by last year's Budget. These very sizeable increases have benefited all classes of pensioners, including military service pensioners and special allowance holders. In addition, members of the Defence Forces retired or discharged since the 1st June, 1969, benefit considerably under the amending pensions scheme approved by the Dáil and Seanad just before Christmas. As Deputies will recall, the benefits include increased gratuities for officers, gratuities for long-service married soldiers in addition to pension and increases in the incremental element of soldiers' pensions.
If there is any additional information which Deputies desire, I shall endeavour to supply it when concluding.
