Vol. 256 No. 12
I move:
That a sum not exceeding £10,988,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1972, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of Public Works; for expenditure in respect of public buildings; for the maintenance of certain parks and public works; for the execution and maintenance of drainage and other engineering works; and for payment of certain grants-in-aid.
This 1971-72 Estimate of £10,988,000 is nearly £400,000 more than the original amount voted for 1970-71.
Subheads A, B and C cover administrative expenses. The combined increase of £124,000 reflects the 12th round increase in salaries, improved rates for travelling and subsistence and increased post office charges, as well as the transfer to this Vote of certain charges for office equipment formerly borne on the Stationery Office Vote.
The provision under subhead D is, as Deputies will observe, very much less than the corresponding figure for last year. The reason is that last year provision had to be made for two exceptionally large payments in respect of office buildings in Dublin, that is to say, the new office block in Kildare Place, and the purchase of a large part of Nos. 11/13 Upper O'Connell Street. This year the bulk of the provision is for routine purchases of sites for Garda stations and office buildings for Government staffs, both in Dublin and the provinces, and for the purchase of the fee simple of some existing leasehold properties. The appeal against the court decision regarding the purchase proceedings relating to the national monuments at Tara has not yet come up for hearing in the Supreme Court, but it may do so during the current year. A provisional amount for this item has accordingly been included.
A list of the works for which provision is made under subhead E has been supplied to Deputies. I will refer briefly to the more significant items.
The extension and alteration works at Leinster House are now completed and the provision of £2,000 is for the payment of some small outstanding accounts.
Item 1 (a)
This is a new provision to provide in this House for a simultaneous translating system from Irish into English. It was expected that the system could be installed during last summer recess but that was not found possible and it will have to be left over until next summer. I hope that the installation of the system will bring about a great increase in the use of Irish in debates.
Under the general heading of "Finance" a sum of £661,000 has been provided mainly for the provision of office accommodation for various Departments. The three main items are: the provision of a building for a computer unit at Inchicore, the new building for the stamping branch of the Revenue Commissioners in Dublin Castle and the fitting out of the new office block in Kildare Place. The computer unit at Inchicore will be used by various Departments whose requirements would not warrant a computer of their own. Tenders for the project are under examination and the unit should be in operation some time next year. The stamping branch building is now proceeding well and is expected to be finished by mid-1973. I have already explained the arrangement which was entered into with a development group for the erection of a new office building on the site of the former Church of Ireland Training College in Kildare Place so as to centralise all the headquarters staff of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Deputies will no doubt have noticed that work is well advanced. The provision now made is to meet the cost of fitting out the building to meet the requirements of the Department.
The five items Nos. 17-21 while small in themselves are of particular interest. They are: the inscription on the back wall of the Garden of Remembrance and the erection there of the central sculptural feature; the State memorial to the late President Kennedy; the memorial to Roger Casement in Glasnevin Cemetery; the restoration of buildings at Scoil Éanna, Rathfarnham (Stage 1) and the restoration of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham (Stage II). I will say a few words about each of these items.
First, the Garden of Remembrance. Oireachtas na Gaeilge arranged a competition for a suitable inscription for the back wall. Three prizes were offered—£500, £300 and £150 and as Deputies will have read in the papers the awards have been made and arrangements are now being made for cutting the inscription. The provision covered the prizes and the cost of erecting the sculptural feature which was dedicated on 11th July during the Truce commemoration ceremonies. I take this opportunity of congratulating Mr. Mac Uistín the winner of the inscription competition, and of paying tribute to Mr. Oisín Kelly for the very fine sculpture which he designed and which now graces the focal position in the garden. The second item is the State memorial to the late President Kennedy. Deputies will recall that on the 9th of this month the Minister for Finance in answer to a Parliamentary Question said that he hoped to consult the Government in the near future regarding this project. The Roger Casement memorial, which takes the form of a heroic size effigy of Casement on a pedestal, has been cast and arrangements for erection and unveiling are at present being considered.
At the ceremony on 28th April, 1970, for the handing over of Scoil Éanna to the State, the Taoiseach announced that part of the house would be restored to the condition it was in when the brothers Pearse lived in it, and that the rest would be used as a museum to display items connected with the Pearse family. He said also that the grounds would be artistically laid out. The implementation of that decision constitutes a major task which will take some time to plan and to carry out. A small committee representative of the Office of Public Works, the Department of Education and of persons who were closely connected with Scoil Éanna and who are sympathetic to the project have been formed to assist in advising on the problems likely to arise. The work is being tackled with enthusiasm and good progress has been made. The first stage is the repair and renewal of the roofs of the buildings and the contract for that work has been placed and work is in progress. At the same time work on the lay-out of the grounds which will take some years to complete is in hands and had progressed to such an extent that it was possible to open the greater part of the grounds to the public in September last.
The last of the five items is the restoration of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. The building has been allocated to the Department of Education to accommodate a folk museum and the natural history division of the national museum. The first stage of restoration, which comprised the north wing, was completed in 1966. It is now proposed to tackle a further stage. Planning will take some time and the small provision of £1,000 is for planning expenses. There is no prospect of any works being done this year.
It is hoped to place a contract shortly for the restoration of the picture gallery wing of Kilkenny Castle. The castle will be the focal point of a park area which it is proposed to establish in the Kilkenny region and when fully restored it will provide for a wide range of cultural activities in addition to information and interpretation services for the park area. It is hoped that part of the restoration cost will come from voluntary subscriptions.
Dunmore Cave, County Kilkenny, is in the Commissioners' care as a national monument by reason of its historical associations. It is mentioned in old Irish literature and was plundered by Godfrey and the Vikings of Dublin in 928 when 1,000 people are said to have died. While the cave has always been of considerable interest to speleologists, difficulty in gaining access to it has put it beyond the range of most visitors. Over the years the question of presenting it as a show cave has been considered on different occasions —similar caves in Britain, America and elsewhere have proved very popular. Early in 1969 a scheme of works was put in hands designed to make the cave more accessible and more interesting to visitors. The approach road has been improved, a car park has been provided, steps have been constructed down to the mouth of the cave and electric lighting is at present being installed. These works are being financed jointly by the Office of Public Works. Bord Fáilte, Kilkenny County Council and the South Eastern Regional Tourism Organisation, Limited. The final stage of development will be the erection of a visitor reception building arrangements for which are in train.
A sum of £25,000 is being provided this year to start a scheme of general improvements on the River Shannon navigation to meet the growing demand for cruising and other recreational facilities. Amongst the works being financed from this provision are a new jetty at Lough Key, extension to the landing place at Battlebridge, the removal of shoals in the river at Cootehall and Jamestown. Investment by private enterprise supported by Bord Fáilte continues to grow and it is important that more public amenities be provided to keep pace with this rapidly expanding feature of our tourist industry.
Under the heading of "Justice" a total of £247,000 is provided. Of this, £225,000 is required for the erection of new Garda stations, improvements at existing stations and the provision of improved accommodation for Garda personnel in Dublin Castle. Three new stations in the Dublin area have been completed this year at Ballyfermot, Dundrum and Raheny and two more are being erected at Rathmines and Ballymun. A scheme of major improvements at Kevin Street is nearing completion and it is hoped that work on the reconstruction of the station at Store Street will commence early in 1972. Outside Dublin, three new stations were completed this year and three more are in course of erection, the largest being in Waterford. New buildings and major improvement schemes are being planned for many other centres throughout the country. Here I would like to refer in particular to Limerick. The principal station there, namely William Street, has for long been a source of serious concern to us because of its age and general condition. The need for a new central station was accepted years ago but regrettably site difficulties have delayed the erection of such a building. I am now happy to report that at last these difficulties have been overcome. Agreement has been reached for the purchase of an excellent site lying between Henry Street and the quays. The preparation of the necessary plans, et cetera, will be put in hands with the minimum of delay and the project generally will be expedited as much as possible.
Last year the grant expenditure on the building of primary schools was £3,360,000 approximately. Forty-six new buildings were erected and major improvements were carried out at 51 other schools. Eighteen thousand four hundred pupil places were provided and a further 6,600 places were made available in prefabricated units. The amount included for school building in this Estimate is £3,325,000. As Deputies are aware, the Minister for Finance has announced that an additional sum of £500,000 will be made available. This will be covered by a supplementary estimate later. The greater part of the money will again be spent in providing schools for new housing areas in cities and towns.
Special schools for mentally and physically handicapped children are also well catered for. Six projects were completed last year and plans for a further 12 schools are being prepared. In this field, I might mention that at the request of the Department of Health a day-care centre for severely mentally handicapped children is being provided in conjunction with the new school for moderately mentally handicapped children at Cootehill, County Cavan.
I mentioned last year that the requirements of the new curriculum would result in changes in the planning of schools and in the design of a new range of school furniture. The new furniture will be available early in 1972.
The policy of amalgamation of small rural schools into larger central units is continuing. The total number of national schools in operation has been reduced to approximately 4,100 from the peak of about 4,800.
As usual, there is a substantial provision of £218,000 for buildings, research, training and advisory services for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. The main items this year are the regional veterinary and dairy produce laboratories at Kilkenny and Limerick, a new post-mortem unit and laboratories at Abbotstown and a performance testing station for beef bulls at Tully, County Kildare.
A sum of £600,000 is being provided for fishery harbour works under items 50 and 51 of which £400,000 is for major fishery harbours. Work at Dunmore East harbour has been completed apart from harbour buildings which will be started this year. Good progress is being made at Castletownbere and Killybegs harbours. Provision is also made for improvement schemes at a number of other harbours, including Kilmore Quay, County Wexford, Reen, County Cork; Killala, County Mayo; Burtonport, County Donegal; and Cleggan, Emlaghmore and Roundstone, County Galway. Other harbour works being carried out by the Office of Public Works in Gaeltacht areas are paid for from the Vote for Roinn na Gaeltachta.
A sum of £205,000 is required for works for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. Except for the computer and training centre buildings at Dundrum—items 57 (1) and 57 (2)—the works covered are mostly post offices and sorting offices. In addition, the Office of Public Works will in the the current financial year carry out about £500,000 worth of works for the telephone service, which will be paid for out of the telephone capital account. The F group of subheads provides for the cost of servicing State properties. Subhead F 1 provides the funds for the maintenance of those buildings as well as of the State harbours, the national parks and the River Shannon navigation.
I would like to say a few words about the national parks. Phoenix Park was always a place where one could enjoy a few hours peace and quiet away from the noise and bustle of a busy city. It was an ideal recreation centre for young children who could roam at will over the wide expanses in complete safety. It was inevitable that, situated as it is on the doorstep of a continually expanding metropolis, the amenities of the park would come under increasing pressure. Improved living standards have led to a spectacular increase in the volume of car traffic in Dublin over the past ten years and the Phoenix Park is now feeling the full effect of this growth and the concurrent increase in leisure time.
At the weekends in particular the park is becoming choked with motor traffic and cars can be seen speeding along the roads or driving over the grass without regard for the comfort or safety of other park users. Of late, I have been receiving many complaints from persons who have enjoyed the park for many years and who feel its whole character is changing for the worse. There is power, of course, to prosecute for breaches of the bye-laws, but to pursue such a course without tackling the problem as a whole would be a negative attitude. We must ask ourselves, however, if we want our premier national recreation park to become one monstrous car park or racing track every weekend. We must remember that in a park setting children are much less on the alert for motor traffic than in any other public place and the danger of accidents can be all the greater.
Deputies are also aware that the growth in pony trekking and horse riding has brought its own problems, and as I have already told the House I am having the bye-laws suitably amended to provide for better control of this activity. There will be no question of banning horse riding entirely but certain restrictions will have to be imposed to protect both the turf and other park users. Notwithstanding its size the park cannot meet in full all the demands on its use. The basic problem is to what extent and by what measures the conflict can be resolved. A plan is, therefore, required which will provide for balanced management and development and best use of the area and its features.
As I announced recently a full amenity study of the Phoenix Park is being carried out by a group of fourth year students of the school of architecture, survey and building technology of the College of Technology, Bolton Street under the guidance of Mr. Kevin Fox, head of the school, and in collaboration with the national parks and monuments branch of the Office of Public Works. The study will cover many aspects of park management and user including the use of the park roads as traffic arteries within the city road system as well as access to park facilities; how vehicular traffic conflicts with pedestrian use, with livestock, with wild-life movement and the problem it creates in the matter of parking, intrusion on grass areas and road-lighting. In the fields of sport and general recreation the students will examine the present and potential use of the park for team games, and such sports as polo, cycling and horse-riding and the need for facilities such as picnic sites, children's playgrounds, shelters and toilets. They will also study landscape aspects of the park including garden areas, plantations and ornamental features and design relationships of structures to landscape and will assess the adequacy or otherwise of the stewarding arrangements.
Any Deputies who have seen the excellent and very popular amenity study of Kilkenny carried out by the Bolton Street students under a similar arrangement will look forward eagerly to the results of their study of the Phoenix Park. As I stated when I announced details of it, I hope that its study and its findings will engender public interest in the steps which may be necessary to preserve the wonderful amenity of the Phoenix Park and I am sure the public will co-operate with the students so far as their co-operation may be required. I am now satisfied as to the feasibility of laying out an 18-hole public golf course in the Phoenix Park extension and I hope to make a further statement on this project shortly.
Improved visitor facilities are being provided at other national parks. The Bourn Vincent National Park at Killarney continues to attract more and more visitors from home and overseas. From surveys we have carried out there during the past three years, it is clear that most visitors want the park to be preserved as it always has been. It is our policy to protect the natural beauty of the park while providing visitors with more facilities to enjoy its amenities to the full. This year a new access road, with car park, has been provided which enables visitors to get a new and exciting view of Killarney and, should they so desire, to reach the shores of Muckross Lake after a short walk. The nature trail which was opened in October, 1970, proved a great attraction and two more comprehensive trails were opened this year. These trails commence on the shores of Muckross Lake and provide an opportunity for visitors to see the real beauty of Killarney and to acquire a greater appreciation of its unique botanical, zoological and geological features.
It has been decided in consultation with the Botanic Gardens authorities to establish near Muckross House an arboretum of trees which would be difficult to grow in more exposed sites elsewhere in Ireland, but for which the Killarney climate is particularly suitable.
The programme of scientific research which commenced last year has been expanded by the initiation of projects on the red deer population of the Killarney valley and the lakes. The project known as the Vincent scholarship is a co-operative effort between the University of Wisconsin, USA, University College, Dublin, and the Office of Public Works. Here, I would like to pay tribute to Mr. W. B. Vincent, son of the former owner of the estate, who was mainly responsible for sponsoring the scholarship. I am hopeful that in years to come further financial aid will be provided by Irish-American groups for more research projects in both this and other national parks.
Deputies are aware that discussions have been taking place between the Office of Public Works and the Department of Transport and Power regarding the future of the Grand Canal. A full engineering survey of the Grand Canal and Barrow navigation was carried out by the national parks and monuments branch and a copy of the report was sent to the Department of Transport and Power and the Department of Finance for consideration. While I cannot anticipate the Government's decision in the matter, it is generally appreciated now that in the canal system we have a recreational asset of great value. The Barrow stretch of the navigation has been described as the most beautiful waterway in these islands, and is of special importance as a recreational resource in the context of the Kilkenny Park area.
A recent visitor to our country who has visited many parts of the world on matters connected with national parks and conservation, when commenting on the unspoiled beauty of our island, its great intrinsic value and how we take it so much for granted, remarked that there are millions of people in over-populated, over-developed countries so starved of the beauty of nature that they would pay a high price not just to own but to sit and watch for a short time occasionally even a small meandering stream of pure, unpolluted water in one of our many lesser known valleys. This should give all of us food for thought. It is, I think, evident that we are beginning to appreciate more the responsibility we have to protect and to preserve for our people the great natural beauty of our land. Deputies will have noticed in recent years the growing demand from people at all levels for the reservation of further areas as national parks, to ensure their availability for the enjoyment and recreation of all the people for all time. I think this is a development to be welcomed, and I personally welcome the increasing interest which Deputies from all sides of the House have been showing in our national park service in recent years.
The increase in the provision in respect of subhead F. 3 is due to the leasing of additional space to house the expanding staffs of various Departments. The main rent increases relate to the leasing of accommodation in Dublin for the Departments of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Health, Local Government and Social Welfare.
The G group of subheads contains provision for expenditure in connection with the programme of arterial drainage undertaken under the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945. The most important of the group are G1, G2, and G5.
Subhead G1 provides for the expenses of field and hydrometric surveys which must precede the preparation of drainage schemes. The amount requested, £30,000, compares with £35,000 provided last year. Among the schemes at various stages of preparation or consideration are the Corrib-Mask-Robe, Erne, Boyle, Mulkear, Suir, Owenmore (Sligo) and Nore major catchments and the minor catchments of the Bonet, Dunkellin and Lavally. The possibility of schemes for the Finn sub-catchment of the Erne in Counties Cavan, Monaghan and Fermanagh, and the Bradoge in Counties Donegal, Leitrim and Fermanagh is being examined in co-operation with the Northern Authorities. Small schemes for the Ards Flats in County Donegal and Moanakeeba, County Galway, are also under consideration.
Subhead G2 provides for expenditure on works in progress. The amount sought, £878,000, is less than the £1,176,000 provided last year and it does not enable a start to be made on the Maigue scheme. Provision is included for the Boyne which is in full swing, the Corrib/Headford and for the completion of the Moy.
The work of completing the Ringmoylan to Foynes embankments in the Shannon Estuary has also been provided for bringing to almost £1,500,000 the amount spent on embankment restoration in the Shannon Estuary since the storm of October, 1961, caused extensive breaching.
Provision is also included for completion of work on the Carrigahorig Drainage Scheme, Counties Tipperary and Offaly, and for the continuation of work on another small scheme, the Groody near Limerick city.
In connection with arterial drainage I would remind Deputies that the Office of Public Works have been operating to a brief prepared for them some 30 years ago. For some time past doubts have been expressed about the return from capital allocated for arterial drainage and there have been complaints of damage caused by drainage schemes to fisheries, nature reserves and the natural environment. Moreover, questions are being asked as to whether drainage schemes are intended primarily to relieve flooding of lands or primarily to alleviate the problems of people living in areas subject to flooding—including problems affecting their standard of living, their health and their quality of life. If the latter is the primary objective, alternative ways of dealing with the problems caused by flooding may need to be considered.
In the context of programme budgeting, which, as announced by the Minister for Finance is being introduced into the public service, projects will in future be subjected to close scientific scrutiny from the point of view of cost/ benefit ratio before qualifying for allocations from the capital budget. When it is remembered that the Boyne catchment drainage scheme is estimated to cost upwards of £10 million gross at current prices and that regrettably the experience is that many landowners have neglected to take advantage of arterial drainage in other areas the necessity for a review of the relative value of arterial drainage as a means of improving the economy of holdings or of raising agricultural output will be appreciated.
With a view to reaching a conclusion on such matters the Department of Finance, in collaboration with the Office of Public Works have put in hands a full cost/benefit study of arterial drainage as administered at present and an outline of an analysis specifying the lines on which the investigation should proceed has been prepared and agreed. Good progress has been made on the study but it is not expected that the result will be available for 12-18 months.
I should like also to mention in this connection that one of the assets this country has in attracting new industry is its plentiful supply of fresh water and, as the problem of inadequate water resources grows elsewhere, this asset may become more important in the future. The hydrometric unit of the engineers branch of the Office of Public Works, which hitherto had been concerned almost entirely with measurements relating to the incidence and duration of peak flood flows is becoming more and more involved in the collection and processing of data relating to low water flows to cater for a very big increase in inquiries concerned with the establishment of industries and the adequacy and continuity of water flow at all times for other purposes also.
Subhead G5 provides for the maintenance of completed schemes. The sum requested, £540,000, shows a considerable increase on last year due mainly to the ever-increasing number of schemes being brought to completion and coming under maintenance, and to wage increases.
I am asking for £485,000 for subhead H for the purchase and maintenance of engineering plant and machinery, the purchase of stores and the payment of wages to the workshop staffs. It is intended to continue with the replacement of the fleet of dragline excavators with more modern and more efficient hydraulic excavators which will reduce working costs.
The provision under subhead I for coast protection works has been increased this year to £55,000. The scheme for the Murrough, County Wicklow, is completed and works at Youghal, County Cork, and Moville, County Donegal are proceeding satisfactorily. It is hoped that some further schemes will mature and can be started this year. Provision is also included under this subhead for maintenance of protection works at Rosslare Strand, County Wexford.
Personally I should like to see an expanded programme of coast protection work. I am aware that, in many areas around our coasts, there is urgent need for such work and, of course once the sea takes over, be it a roadway, a house or a field there can be no question of replacement.
A sum of £13,600 has been provided under subhead J for minor marine schemes sponsored by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. The K group of subheads deals with the national monuments service.
Subhead K.1 provides for the maintenance and conservation of national monuments in State care, for the presentation and interpretation of the monuments to visitors and for archaeological exploration. The Commissioners' statutory functions are not confined to the monuments in State care: they include all monuments generally and all archaeological exploration. Last year I adverted to the need for extending our statutory authorities in regard to national monuments to meet the needs occasioned by economic growth and social development and this is under active consideration in consultation with the National Monuments Advisory Council.
The maintenance of monuments is now being carried out on a regional basis and a work force of some 70 men is employed directly. Last year a new district centre was established at Trim and this year an additional one—making a total of five—has been established at Sligo to cater for monuments in the north-western region.
In addition to the routine work of keeping monuments in a safe and presentable condition, major schemes of conservation were completed during the year at Urlaur Abbey, County Mayo, Aughnanure Castle, County Galway, Gallarus Oratory, County Kerry, and Drishane Castle, County Cork. Work at Cahir Castle, County Tipperary, is virtually completed and a visitor service, which has proved very satisfactory at Newgrange Tumulus and the Rock of Cashel, was extended to Cahir Castle this year.
Major conservation works were put in hands last year at Portumna Castle and Clontuskert Abbey in County Galway, and at St. Francis's Friary in Kilkenny city. The major scheme in progress at Kells Priory, County Kilkenny, is continuing and work has begun on Kanturk Castle in County Cork. Minor schemes are also in hands at Trim Castle, Mellifont Abbey and Ballinacarriga Castle, County Cork.
The archaeological survey set up in 1965 to record scientifically all monuments up to 1200 A.D. has been virtually completed in Counties Louth, Monaghan and Meath. It was extended last year into Counties Cavan, Westmeath and Longford, and is proceeding satisfactorily.
Public interest in archaeological excavation continues to grow and 15 excavations financed by the Commissioners covering a wide variety of monuments were carried out during 1970. These yielded a fund of information on the mode of living in bygone days, and are helping to piece together the history of man's occupation of and the various migrations to this island over the last 7,000 or 8,000 years.
Representations have been made to me from time to time regarding the inadequacy of the type of notice displayed at national monuments. I am very conscious of the need for improvment in this regard and I am pleased to inform the House that the national parks and monuments branch, in collaboration with An Bord Fáilte, have selected some 300 major monuments at which new information plaques will be provided to replace the old type notices. The scripts for a number of these have been prepared and a contract has been placed for the supply of the first batch of notices. Further batches will be provided according as time and financial resources permit.
On these new notices and, indeed, on all new permanent signs to be provided hence forth by the national parks and monuments branch at national monuments, national parks and inland waterways in their charge, Deputies will notice a symbol consisting of three groups of contiguous concentric circles, and may be curious as to what this represents. The symbol has been authorised for use specially by the national parks and monuments branch—the three groups representing the merging in one branch of the three services, national parks, national monuments and inland waterways. The concentric circles are a reminder of the megalithic art as may be seen on the magnificently decorated stones at the pre-historic Boyne Valley passage graves and the trefoil format is representative of the nature conservation element in our national parks.
Subhead K3 provides for a grant-in-aid towards the cost of the restoration of Holy Cross Abbey, County Tipperary, for which legislation enabling the Commissioners to carry out the work was enacted in 1959. The project is now well under way. The cost of the restoration work will be borne by diocesan trustees and lodgments made will be credited to Appropriations-in-Aid. Conservation works on the fabric of the monument will be paid for by the State. Subhead L covers the annual grant-in-aid for the operation and maintenance of the yacht "Asgard".
I have dealt with the main activities of the Commissioners of Public Works. There may be items which I have not specifically mentioned in which Deputies may be interested. If any Deputy desires further information on any item I shall be only too glad to provide it.
I listened attentively to the speech made by the Parliamentary Secretary. It is unfortunate that copies of the text of the Parliamentary Secretary's speech could not be given to interested Deputies at a more reasonable time. This practice of Deputies being handed copies of a speech like this in the House should stop. There is nothing secret in this document. I do not know why this method of distribution has been adhered to down through the years. Nobody could delve deeply into and make an adequate criticism of a speech like this in five minutes. Therefore this practice must stop. Excepting a very confidential document like the Budget Statement, interested Deputies should be given copies of speeches at a reasonable time so that they can study the subject matter contained therein.
The interest shown last year in this Estimate was indicated by the number of Deputies who participated in the debate. This springs from the fact that the activities and operations of the Board of Works impinge on every constituency. Representations are made to Deputies and, when they come in here, they voice their opinions by way of criticism, recommendation or commendation. Now all recommendations should be carefully studied and examined because the opinions voiced here are the opinions of a cross-section of the entire community and Deputies voicing their opinions here on behalf of their constituents act really as an examining body relative to the efficiency of the operations of the Board of Works throughout the country. Recommendations should, as I say, be carefully examined. If they are not feasible they can be thrown out and, if they are feasible, they can be implemented. I trust that this will be done in future.
It is quite obvious an increase has occurred under subheads A, B and C. Anyone of reasonable intelligence realises this increase has been caused by the increase in the cost of living. Increased living costs give rise to demands for increased wages. These demands have to be met. This is the reason for the big increase in salaries, wages, travelling expenses and post office services.
There is a marked decrease under subhead D due to the fact that a large sum was given last year for the premises in Kildare Place. There is a sum of £70,000 for the purchase of sites for Garda stations and other public buildings. In the Board of Works and in Departments of State generally the transfer of sites is finalised with expedition. In local authorities the transfer of sites takes anything up to 18 months. There is a very critical housing situation and I suggest that transfers of sites for housing should be expedited. In Mayo we have an appalling housing crisis. Last night I was told by a member of a deputation from Donegal that it takes up to two years to transfer a simple site from a farmer, who gives it willingly, to the local authority. This is a shocking state of affairs. Red tape and bureaucracy should not militate against the provision of houses. I know this is not a matter for the Board of Works; it is in the Department of Local Government the hold-up occurs.
Under subhead E the money is provided for new buildings, alterations and additions. This is work carried out for Departments through the agency of the Board of Works. Subhead E covers a wide range of activities. One of these is the building of primary schools. I am glad more money is being provided this year by the Department of Education for the building of new schools. Many new schools have been built but there is still a great deal of work to be done in this direction. Anyone travelling through the country must be aware of the obsolete, rat-infested schools which children are compelled by law to attend. I appeal to the Parliamentary Secretary to expedite the building of schools. In 1967 certain facilities were offered to managers to enable them to install heating and proper sanitary facilities. Officials gave of their time willingly to advise and counsel and to help with plans and designs. This has been a wonderful boon in country districts and I commend those who really went out of their way to help.
In recent years there has been a change in the national school curriculum and this will call for extra expense because teachers will have to have space for assignment work and so forth. I understand, too, that teachers have been asked to establish small museums. Again, more space will be required for these and this will mean increased cost.
I want to say a special word about schools for the mentally handicapped and the physically handicapped. A special design is essential, first of all, and then there has to be special equipment. This is an extra burden on the Exchequer but no one will grudge the extra expense because of the excellent results achieved, results reflected in the children themselves and in the happiness of the parents. Up to ten years ago these children had to be kept at home. There were neither teachers nor educational facilities to cater for them. In the last four years wonderful progress has been made in this respect. I have here a letter from the Mayo Association of Parents and Friends of Mentally Handicapped Children. The letter is as follows:
I understand from statements of the Minister for Finance that there is a little money yet in the funds and I would be very glad if you would use your strongest influence to get our mentally handicapped school on the list for immediate attention. It is well over two years since we purchased the site at Convent Hill, Ballina, County Mayo, and plans have been prepared and approved for some time. I understand that there was some delay in having title completed to the satisfaction of the Department but this is now in order. We have had two house-to-house collections in the county since purchasing the site and many embarrassing questions are being asked about the delay in getting the building under way. It is also a great hardship on the 55 to 60 children who are on the waiting list and for whom nothing can be done until the school is provided. I think that it is very important that the Department concerned should move now to have the school built without undue delay as it is really a very urgent matter.
He signs himself Chairman, Ballina Branch, of this Society. I would ask the Parliamentary Secretary to get this school under way with all expedition.
Dealing with schools, before I pass on to another item in the Estimate, I would like to mention that there is one particular complaint which I get from contractors in the part of the country I come from, especially contractors who install heating in the schools. It is that when they have finished their contract, they do not get paid in some cases for a year to 18 months, or maybe two years. Somebody has mentioned its being a Board of Works job, but it is not that at all. The Board of Works has come in for a lot of derisive criticism over the years, but as I have had to study it over the past two years, they do not deserve it at all; but in cases like this, where the contractor has finished, to the satisfaction of the engineer, a certain assignment or a job of work given to him, and if the engineer supervising the work gives him a certificate of completion and satisfaction, that contractor should be paid out of hand. The reason for this is that the contractor is being pressed by the builder's provider, and if he cannot come across with the money within a reasonable time, a few months, he will not get supplies again, so I would ask the Parliamentary Secretary as a recommendation to have expeditious payment made to those contractors who do a satisfactory job.
I noticed that the Parliamentary Secretary mentioned the sum of £225,000 for Garda stations. In the Book of Estimates for Public Services, it is only £140,000, plus £60,000, making £200,000. That is item No. 31.
There is a difference of £25,000 but what is a sum of £25,000 when you spend millions?
In some parts of the country, the Guards are still trying to carry out their duties in barracks which are really obsolete and it is only when you are on the ground and pass through the rural areas that you see this grim, gloomy and, I understand, damp building inside. Somebody will ask "What is that?", and you say "That is the Guards barracks". If we have any respect for the law, we should also have respect for the people who preserve the law, and should have the respect for them that we give them some comfortable, suitable and wellheated quarters in which to carry out their duties. Not alone that, but in the summertime and sometimes in the winter, visitors and tourists must go to the Garda barracks for directions, for advice and counsel. This leaves a very poor impression on people who come for the first time to the rural areas of Ireland and who have to go into such an obsolete building asking for advice. First impressions, I suppose, are strongest, and so they go home to their various countries whence they came, bearing with them an image of our police force which is excellent but the places in which they must work deplorable.
That might be a matter in the first instance for the Department of Justice.
I doubt it, Sir. I want to say a word of commendation to the people in charge of the National Building Agency. This is an agency which gives very efficient service and, as I said about the transfer of sites, I was talking to a contractor, a man who takes upon himself contracts for the National Building Agency, and he tells me that an inspector can come down— I do not know from which Department —buy ten sites and within a week work is started. If that happens with the National Building Agency it should also be the same way with the local authorities. I have mentioned this before, but I want to emphasise it, on account of the people who are bereft of houses and who with the coming winter, have, I suppose, most Deputies plagued with "Will my house be built before the winter comes?". If it is possible, an expeditious transfer of sites should be accomplished, no matter what type of Department we are dealing with.
Subhead E also deals with improvements to Government buildings and here in Leinster House—this is the only one I will comment on—we have an excellent building, excellently run, but there are still some defects in the work which the Board of Works has done on the building. First of all, we had a very large crowd here last week. When a crisis or pseudo-crisis arises within the vicinity of this House, the people flock in here and try to get on to the gallery. Last Wednesday, admission was only by ticket. Every Deputy got one ticket—some Deputies got more than one but we will not quibble about that—but I went down to give my ticket to a friend who had asked me the week before and I could hardly get near the gates. They got inside the gates all right but they could not see the ushers who were inside the waiting room. That waiting room just at the gate has been built, I suppose, over the last three or four years, but definitely it is completely inadequate. Only one person at a time can go in the door and if he stands there, he blocks the whole way. They do not, in a rush, go in and stay in the outside room near the street— they wait there and block the others. I want to congratulate the ushers on the way they handled the situation, but I am afraid that something more adequate must be constructed near the gate. I understand of course that there is a security risk involved and we must have this security risk abolished, but we must also have an adequate way of dealing with visitors.
I hear complaints yet about the thermostat which governs the heating in this place. Some people complain that they are too warm; other people complain that they are too cold, but I believe that it depends upon the room you are in. I would ask the officers, if they can manage it at all, to get an even temperature permeating the atmosphere, both here and in various other places in the building.
Last year I suggested to the Parliamentary Secretary that the ushers here should be given a lighter uniform for the summer. I understand a sample of a certain cloth was procured but I believe it was not quite suitable, being heavier material than what they are wearing. The present uniform is really a burden on these wonderful men whose efficiency is undoubted and whose co-operation with Deputies, visitors and all concerned makes them men above men. I do not think we could replace the staff we have here, the superintendent, the captain and all the ushers who facilitate us in every possible way. They facilitate visitors and make them feel at home. I congratulate the Parliamentary Secretary on his staff.
Subhead E provides money also for new offices. Now I come to a very controversial subject which has given rise to conjecture and almost civil strife in various places in Castlebar. In 1967 —was it an election year—a proposal was made to decentralise the Department of Lands to Castlebar and the Department of Education to Athlone. This caused great excitement in my home town, also the home town of the former Minister for Lands. At that time he moved that proposal. This matter is still a matter for conjecture despite assurances from various Ministers. Last year the Taoiseach attended a function in Breaffy House, Castlebar and gave a solemn undertaking— I do not doubt his word but who can accept the word of any Minister nowadays when so many irresponsible statements have been made? —that decentralisation would take place and that Castlebar would be the location of an enlarged Department of Lands. The urban council purchased a site.
I am sorry to interrupt the Deputy but this has nothing to do with the Estimate before the House. The Deputy is now discussing Government policy on decentralisation.
Under Item No. 41 we find "Castlebar: New Offices" and there is a total estimated cost of £1,650,000 of which already £13,000 has been spent. The provision for this year is £5,000. I am entitled to discuss that.
The Deputy may discuss the money voted for this year but the whole policy of decentralisation may not be discussed.
I shall not discuss the policy but the money.
On a point of order, if there is no policy there is no building. The Deputy is referring to the building.
It is the money you want?
Not really money; it is the transfer we want. I have here an article which says that definite progress is being made in the Government's plan to transfer the Department of Lands headquarters to Castlebar from Dublin, according to the Minister for Lands, Deputy Flanagan. This was in an interview with the political correspondent of the Irish Press. The date of the article is last Sunday. It goes on to say:
He gave me the information when I asked him about rumours that the decentralisation scheme for his Department and for the Department of Education had been abandoned by the Government. "It is quite to the contrary," said Mr. Flanagan. "In fact we are busy just now organising a pilot scheme which will be the first move to Castlebar. The plan is definitely on."
The big plan to go west was announced by the Government in the summer of 1967. It caused a flutter of excitement throughout the 30,000strong Civil Service. A census in 1967 showed that 82.27 per cent of the Civil Service Clerical Association's members in the Department of Lands and Forestry expressed an unwillingness to go west; 5.67 per cent said they would go to Athlone and 3.54 per cent said they could not make up their minds. If there is no compulsion it does not take a Garret FitzGerald to calculate that if this plan is carried out, 5.98 people will come to the town of Castlebar. We do not want to recruit people from Dublin to come there if this transfer goes through.
This has nothing to do with the Estimate.
We do not want to recruit anybody to come across the Shannon. There are plenty of people——
This does not arise on the Estimate. We are discussing the figure of £5,000 for building offices in Castlebar and the Deputy may refer to that.
If the money is forthcoming I hope this office will be built. Perhaps I am a "doubting Thomas" but until I put my foot across the threshold of that office I will not believe it. I hope it comes because if it does not the town of Castlebar, the urban council and all concerned will be at a very severe financial loss. The first indication is the building and there is nothing built yet. If we are to spend £1,650,000 on this project and if we provide only £5,000 for this year it will be more than 100 years before it will be done—something like 330 years.
I would ask the Parliamentary Secretary, as an indication of his goodwill, at least to come down and turn the sod. The same thing applies—£5,000 only being provided for this year—to the building of new offices in Athlone. I think it is a gimmick and it gives me an idea that there might be something coming up in the near future although we were told it was only in the foreseeable future.
Subhead E provides money for harbour improvement schemes and landing facilities. On 11th June, 1970, £40,000 was provided for an improvement to a landing pier at Roonagh Point, Louisburgh, County Mayo. This pier is three miles from Clare Island so there was a proposal. I understand, by the Office of Public Works to improve the pier at Clare Island and then improve the pier at Roonagh Point. Roonagh Point, I am told, was the subject of a discussion by the Louisburgh Development Association and the representatives of the county were called in last year. The people in Louisburgh had got all the relevant information that they could regarding the approaches to Roonagh Point pier and the people who knew most about tides, currents and favourable and unfavourable winds suggested that the Office of Public Works should have another look at the location of this improvement work. They suggested that a new location should be arranged at Old Head, Carramore, or Carrow-niskey. I would ask the Board to examine the suggestion. I would also ask them to leave the £40,000 as allocated; if they cannot get a better location for its expenditure it must be kept allocated to the pier at Roonagh. I wanted to impart that information lest they might do the same as was done two years ago at a small pier in the Gaeltacht area of Portacloy where £20,000 was expanded two years ago. Portacloy is in the Erris Peninsula. An excellent slip was made but that slip has not been used yet by the fishermen in that area because the approaches to the place are governed by a groundswell. People coming from offices in Dublin or anywhere else do not have the local knowledge that these fishermen have. It is a fact—I shall quote later from the publication of the Irish Fishermen's Association—that this place has never been used although £20,000 was spent on it two years ago. That is why I am asking them to have another look at the Roonagh Point location.
Other harbour works are provided for under subhead E. These, I understand, are provided in the Gaeltacht areas by the Board of Works. The places I wish to bring to the notice of the Parliamentary Secretary and his officials are all situated in the Erris Peninsula on a line of coast from Ballvcastle, first west and then south, round by Achill Head, taking in Broadhaven Bay, Blacksod Bav, right into the new harbour at Darby's Point. Darby's Point is situated at the entrance to Achill Island to the south. It was talked about for 25 years and the job was done in two years. I do not want that to happen at any of the locations I mention tonight. This area extends from Ballycastle right along the north of the Mayo coast through Belderrig, Porturlin, Portacloy, into Broadhaven Bay, over the top of the Stags of Broadhaven, across into Blacksod and right around into Achill. The fishermen there started off in a very small way with currachs. Currachs can be carried to above high water mark and they are quite safe. The fishermen used to make stone shelters for them. Now the currachs have been replaced by 26-foot half-deckers issued to them by An Bord Iascaigh Mhara. There must be up to 100 of these in the various areas and there is no shelter in which they can anchor. In Inver they built a small anchorage for themselves and that is where £20,000 was spent two years ago, but the jetty cannot be used so that is £20,000 down the drain. I blame the fact that the engineers, in good faith, just came and did the job without knowing the currents. I do not know whether the fishermen were consulted or not but in future it would be a good idea, when dealing with marine works, if the local people were asked for their opinions because they know every current from their fathers' and their great-grandfather's time that we landlubbers know nothing at all about.
In a place called Porturlin there are 32 26-foot half-deckers. These are used for lobsters and cray fishing and now and again when the fish are very plentiful they just go out and fill their boats with mackerel and herring. This is one of the richest fishing grounds in Europe because it is contiguous to Donegal Bay, off Rathlin Island, straight across into the Stags of Broadhaven. It takes 6½ hours from Killybegs to the Stags of Broadhaven and when the boats are filled they must steam back that distance again. If we had even a minor harbour where the trawlers from Killybegs could go in and berth in Broadhaven Bay they could be out again the next morning.
In connection with this case, would the Deputy say if the decision lies with the Board of Works or the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries?
The position is that we survey the landing service and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries make the final decision.
I am quite in order then. In Broadhaven Bay there are 60 boats but there is no place for them to berth. If a storm occurs at night the owners must go down to the bay and winch the boats up above the high water mark. Under the Estimate for the Gaeltacht £40,000 was given to Ros an Mhil. The same sum could be given to Broadhaven Bay. There are two excellent landing places opposite each other in Broadhaven at Ballyglass and Inver.
There are two co-ops in the area, one is called the Ellis Fisherman's Co-op and even though it has only been established in the last year it has a huge turnover. I would ask the officers of the Board of Works to examine the feasibility of having one decent jetty in a central place in the harbour of Broadhaven. It would prove of inestimable value not only to the people in that area but to the trawlers from Killybegs because it would save them a return journey of six and half hours. The authentic publication of the Irish fishermen—the Irish Skipper—says:
The nearest major landing piers to north-west Mayo are Darby's Point, far south in Achill, and Killala, well to the east. Most of the 60 boats in the area therefore have to tranship their catches and crews into currachs to get ashore.
And not only does the lack of a good harbour in Broadhaven prevent local fishermen from progressing into bigger vessels, but also it forces Killybegs boats working off the Stags to steam home after every trip—a six and a half hour run which can be dangerous when the holds are full.
It is therefore distinctly obvious that a good fishing harbour is vital in Broadhaven. The activity has illustrated the enthusiasm among the local fishermen—an enthusiasm which will undoubtedly result in pressure being brought to bear on the authorities for a Broadhaven harbour.
It would still seem to be a matter for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and not a matter for the Office of Public Works.
Thank you, Sir, it is on the record anyhow. Subheads F.1 to F.4 provide for the cost of servicing State premises, maintaining parks and maintaining Shannon navigation. Public demand is for more amenities, and more open spaces. When pollution is frequently the theme of many debates, inquiries and seminars, the preservation of open spaces such as public and national parks, and the proper maintenance of the Shannon navigation are most important matters. If the aim of the national parks and monuments branch is more parks that is a noteworthy object which should be fostered and assisted in every possible way. It is recognised that the Shannon has immense potential as a recreational waterway; no other river in the British Isles is comparable as a holiday location for fishermen, boats-men and sportsmen. The Office of Public Works, Bord Fáilte and the local authorities are to be commended on the efforts they have made to promote still further the development of the Shannon as a holiday centre.
Subheads G.1 to G.3 deal with flooding and arterial drainage. I want to place on record the disappointment and frustration of the people of south Mayo over the restriction imposed on them by the withdrawal of money for arterial drainage last year. They were under the impression that the Corrib-Mask would be continued but it has not been. The Corrib-Headford is almost at a standstill. The scheme only came as far as Kilmaine and the people from the townlands of the Neal, Cross, Cong, Glencullen as far as Ballinrobe and Ballintubber and across into Thomastown on the far side of Ballinrobe are inundated with water. It is a terrible state of affairs that farmers whose land is under water for six months of the year have to pay rent and rates. They must also withstand the financial loss due to crops being washed away, stock being drowned or lost from fluke and hoose. I want to impress on the Board of Works the necessity for starting this arterial drainage.
The Corrib-Headford scheme is due to finish in 1971. Last year the Parliamentary Secretary promised that when the Corrib-Headford scheme was finished the Corrib-Mask-Robe would continue. The farmers of south Mayo are buoyed up with the hope and assurance that this will be done. I trust it will be started within the next financial year. I understand a part of it is being left out. I received a deputation from a district called Ayle. They informed me that this vast area was being omitted from the Corrib-Mask scheme. All this district drains into the Ayle river which drains into Lough Mask. It is unthinkable that this area, which is on a slope, could be omitted from the scheme. No engineer could possibly think of omitting this particular district. All the farms are small and every rood of land that can be saved should be saved on their behalf because an acre of land salvaged from floods in the west is far more valuable than an acre of land salvaged in County Meath, not valuable materially but in a sociological way. Every perch of land in the west counts; it is worked to its fullest capacity. I want to contradict the statement made by the Parliamentary Secretary that full advantage is not being taken of the benefits from arterial drainage. I can assure the House that full advantage is being taken of every perch of land salvaged from the floods that formerly inundated the catchment area in the Moy.
It is on record that in County Mayo there is a better return from the pilot area than from any other pilot area in the country but it is sad that farmers who are in a pilot area find that after a year or two the lime is leeched from the land with the result that their crops decline and their livestock get disease because of fluke and hoose which result from flooding. This flooding leads also to a shortage of fodder.
As part of my duties as a public representative I attended a meeting of the Aughagower development association. At that meeting I was asked if the district is included in the Corrib-Mask drainage scheme. I could not answer the question but I understand that the format is on exhibition in the Office of Public Works. Therefore I must go over there and if this area is not included we shall have to bring to bear all the pressure that is possible so that it will be included.
It might be "masked" somewhere.
It might be that I shall be over there on that side very shortly. There were rumours to the effect that minor schemes would be executed. Some of these have been carried out. I understand that one of these is in North Donegal. However, very few minor schemes can be done, apparently, in County Mayo.
It depends on where the Parliamentary Secretary comes from.
The smaller ones are as important as the major ones and these smaller ones are usually outside the catchment area where there is a water shed intervening. An ideal place to implement one of these schemes is in a pilot area which comes under the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. This area lies between Newport and Westport and embraces two parishes. Farmers there complain that although they are in a pilot area, which means they can avail of facilities and concessions that farmers in other areas cannot avail of, they cannot get fertiliser to their lands and they cannot make use of the land reclamation scheme because there is no outfall for the water. I would recommend to the Parliamentary Secretary that a study of this matter be made at some stage so that it might be put on the list even if not, perhaps, on the priority list.
Coast protection is mentioned in the statement. The amount of money allocated for this purpose in the year 1970-71 was £40,000 and for this year it is to be £55,000 but so far as I am aware no money whatsoever has been spent on coastal protection in County Mayo. On Monday last there was a question before a meeting of the county council concerning an application that was made from a district below Kilalla, a place called Caramore-Lacken. It appears that the protection wall at the pier is so low that the sea comes in over it and inundates ten acres of arable land and three houses. I understand that the local authority can make application to the Office of Public Works to initiate an examination of such floodings as a result of which a scheme is designed for the purpose of affording protection from flooding. When this matter comes before the Parliamentary Secretary from Mayo County Council, I ask that it be given favourable consideration. The sooner this matter is attended to the better. We have only had one or two storms so far this year but one of those completely inundated ten acres of land and three houses. I hope the problem will be dealt with expeditiously.
National monuments are a feature of the Estimate this year again. On the previous occasion certain recommendations were made in this respect. There are national monuments to be found in most parts of the country. I suppose Deputy Tully is in one of the most historic areas of the country. He was one of the Deputies who had some suggestions to make last year. One of these was that a guidebook should be available to visitors at places of historic interest. It must be frustrating when visitors come to these places and find there is no way of ascertaining their historical background. Guide-books would solve this problem. I understand that guides are available in only two locations in Ireland. One of these is looked after very well by the Davern family and I do not know where the other people operate.
It is in Meath and we are neutral.
Incidentally, I understand that the guides at Cashel are doing an excellent job. When the Office of Public Works take over a monument they erect a dark plaque with a notice to the effect that the monument has been taken over by them but I understand from the Parliamentary Secretary's speech that there are to be certain improvements in this sphere. Such improvements would be to the benefit of visitors and would, perhaps, encourage them to return.
I have covered most of the significant items in the Estimate. During my contribution, I may have seemed somewhat critical but these criticisms were justified. On the other hand any commendations that have been made or that may be made during the debate are merited. The officials of the Office of Public Works fully deserve the praise they get. I want to record my deep appreciation, and the appreciation of every public representative, be they councillors or Deputies, of the officers who were in charge of the Moy drainage. The Moy drainage scheme is now at the maintenance stage and I trust that the same co-operation, the same efficiency and the same courtesy will be forthcoming from the officers in charge of maintenance work in County Mayo. I know it will.
The Parliamentary Secretary has always been courteous, co-operative and mindful of the smaller factors which show his consideration for the welfare of his employees, his colleagues, visitors to this House and all others with whom he is in contact. For the period he has been in charge of that Office, as far as I know, no one can say that he has not done his best inside the limits of financial restrictions. We trust that soon his Minister will relax such restrictions and release much needed moneys to those activities over which the Parliamentary Secretary has jurisdiction.
I suppose I could not start on a better note than the one on which Deputy Kenny finished. When Deputy Lemass took over as Parliamentary Secretary many heads were shaking and people were saying: "Well, this is going to be a dead loss". Among others I was agreeably surprised to find that not only was that not true but that, in fact, Deputy Lemass has done his job very well within the limitations of the present Government. There were odd occasions when he did not come up to scratch and I propose to refer to one of them here tonight. In the main, I found him most courteous and efficient, and one cannot expect more from a Parliamentary Secretary.
Perhaps it is a bit unreal that we should be talking on 17th November about the granting of a sum of money of £10,988,000 for the running of the Office of Public Works for the year ending 31st March, 1972. Already a substantial amount of that money must have been spent. While it is not relevant in this debate, something must be done about the Estimates because there is no point in talking about money after it has been spent.
The Parliamentary Secretary said:
The combined increase of £124,000 reflects the 12th round increase in salaries, improved rates for travelling and subsistence and increased post office charges, as well as the transfer to this Vote of certain charges for office equipment formerly borne on the Stationery Office Vote.
The increase in the Vote is not sufficient. I am quite sure that the amount of money required to pay the increases is very much more than the amount which has been allowed for here. There are savings on some of the Votes and I presume that is where the other money comes from.
I had a letter from a constituent who is employed as a maintenance worker in the Office of Public Works. He and his colleagues have been working on the Glyde and Dee drainage over a number of years. They are now pensionable servants of the Office of Public Works. Normally they start in March and finish in late December or early January. This year they did not start until June and they were notified that they would be finishing at the end of November, simply because a wage increase was granted to them during the year. Somebody is trying to put a quart of liquid into a pint bottle, attempting to get the work done with a very much reduced amount of money. I wonder is this matter being dealt with seriously at all?
Last year there was a danger that these men would be laid off before Christmas. I asked the Parliamentary Secretary if he would intervene and ensure that at least they would be kept on until after Christmas, as in previous years they had been kept on until some time in late January or early February. I am glad to say that he took the necessary action to have these people retained. May I again impose on him by asking him to intervene on this occasion and try to have these men retained at least until after Christmas? It is a bad Christmas box to be told that they must go on the Labour Exchange a month before Christmas. Many of them are married men whose families have grown up and gone away so they will be living on about £7 a week over Christmas and until March or April or, as happened this year, June, unless the Parliamentary Secretary intervenes.
Talking about wages, surely the Office of Public Works should grow up with regard to deductions for income tax, et cetera, from their employees. The Office of Public Works collect income tax on the previous year's earnings. Therefore there should be no difficulty whatever about deducting from the first week in April of the following year, the amount of money which should be deducted each week. Surely it is ridiculous to find that in some cases no deductions at all are made until October or November. In other cases a small amount is deducted and then the employee is told that he owes a certain amount of money to the income tax authorities. This year one man with £17 a week had £9 deducted from his wages in one week. He was left with £8 to bring home to his wife and children. The following week they took £5. The following week they took £4. It would have been just as easy to deduct an equal amount every week from April on. If the PAYE system were in operation and the deductions were in regard to the current year I could see the difficulty. I can see no difficulty whatever when it is on the previous year's earnings.
I would be glad if the Parliamentary Secretary could arrange for a typist to be employed in the establishment office of the Office of Public Works so that I could get a reply to a letter within 12 months. As a trade union official I have written numerous letters and have failed to get a reply. I do not propose to take that any longer from the Office of Public Works. There is no reason why those letters should not be answered and I am now putting it squarely to the Parliamentary Secretary that if he does not do something about this I shall have no option but to bring the matter to the Labour Court and he will look well trying to defend an action like that in the Labour Court. It is gross discourtesy and nothing else.
The local offices of the Office of Public Works, even if they have to do it by hand, reply to correspondence by return of post. Why can we not have a reply from the people in head office, to letters dealing with rates of wages and particularly the question of whether somebody is being paid the correct wage? I do not want to pursue this matter any further but this is the second time I have had occasion to bring it to the notice of the Parliamentary Secretary and, when I tell him that some of the letters I referred to last year have not been replied to yet, he can understand why I am a little peeved about what is not happening.
I said there is one matter on which I disagree with the Parliamentary Secretary and I want to refer to it now. I wrote to him last week, I called to his office and spoke to his private secretary and to himself about a matter which he says he has already discussed with numerous other public representatives. I take his word for that. I am quite sure that he has satisfied himself that the replies which he has given to other people are all right and that justice is being done. I am not so satisfied. I am not prepared to take secondhand information from anybody. Somebody referred to me as the patron of lost causes. Maybe that is so. However, I do not think this cause is a lost one.
The Parliamentary Secretary will remember that I went into great detail in my letter to point out that somebody who was employed as an assessor by the Office of Public Works on a drainage job in the west of Ireland was offered a transfer which he did not take and thereby got on somebody's back. Subsequently he was offered another transfer, which he took, but the only accommodation he could get cost £6 per week rent. There was a slight concession made. The house needed some minor repairs and a sum of £4 was set aside by the landlord on condition the repairs were made. Subsequently when this man submitted his expenses sheet to the Board of Works it was said that the expenses sheet showed money that was not due. The man assures me the amount is slightly over £4. The man was sacked. After two or three months he was offered a job as a labourer. The excuse given was that he had falsified accounts. This he denies. He has a document to show that the man who rented him the house is prepared to agree that the sum was due. Possibly I am now annoying someone in saying this. I do not care who I annoy. I want to make this very clear. Whether or not officials think this is a matter which should not be raised in this House does not interest me. Having tried in another way and failed, I will, with the permission of the Chair, raise it here and now. I am quite sure the gentleman who had him dismissed would have no hesitation in thinking that with the six days, or whatever it is, uncertified sick leave in a year, he could have taken that day off as a sick day, if required, and, if it is true that this man was dismissed because somebody in the Board of Works felt that the sum of £4 was claimed, and there was some doubt about it—this man is prepared to swear that the £4 was really due—I consider that a grave injustice has been done to a married man with two children.
The Parliamentary Secretary will give his side of the story when he comes to reply or, if he does not wish to do that, perhaps he would let me have in writing his side of the story. So far, I have failed to get an opportunity of discussing the matter with him; though I have discussed it with his private secretary, I have not had a reply to my letter. I do not propose to deal further with the matter now.
I am sorry I missed the appointment we had last week to deal with this matter.
I have already said that, as far as the Parliamentary Secretary is concerned, I have found him both courteous and obliging. He has never tried to dodge the issue and neither have his officials. I particularly want to mention this case because it has been strongly represented to me that a grave injustice has been done and that is something over which I am not prepared to stand if I can get it rectified.
In the provision for the House of the Oireachtas there is a sum of £2,000. Would the Parliamentary Secretary tell us if the further £2,000 includes repairs to items inside the Houses which were not properly finished and still have to be finished? Some of the lights are still falling down in the new building.
I am astonished that there are no safety regulations for the public gallery. Last week on the Confidence Motion debate the gallery was packed. So was the House and its precincts. A hoaxer sent a message that a bomb had been placed. Had that been made known to those in the gallery I am sure a substantial number would have felt it was safer to get out. How would 140 or 150 people get out of the gallery? Through one door?
There is another door.
It is not open and it would not be opened unless someone had advance information that it should be opened.
There is a key behind the glass.
Who knows that? Would the Parliamentary Secretary go up and open it?
There are police and others in attendance. I know there is a problem.
There is and something should be done about it. We should not wait until something happens and people get hurt.
A document has been sent out by the Department of Local Government all over the country requiring certain things to be done in little halls in regard to fire protection. These little halls hold only a couple of hundred people and the proprietors have been notified that they must instal an emergency lighting system which will cost anything up to £1,000 and, if they do not comply, they will have to close down. These instructions are issued by a Department of State and it is all rather ridiculous when, at the seat of Government, no effort is made to improve safety regulations where fire is concerned.
In regard to the public address system, while it is possible to hear most Deputies, there are Members, particularly Ministers, who just cannot be heard in the public gallery. It is rather ridiculous to allow that situation to continue. Over and over again a number of people have complained about this and yet the unsatisfactory condition continues. It is bad enough to be on the gallery—very often they are people waiting for some Deputy—but to have to sit there as if one were at one of the old silent movies is ridiculous. The situation should be remedied.
I notice £9,000 has been allowed for the State apartments. A sum of £2,000 is provided for repairs and extension to the automatic fire detection system. Is this for repairs to Iveagh House? Surely it should be possible to carry out repairs there. It is a show place. It is a little foolish to have the State hiring a room in an hotel for State functions. If that is one of the purposes of Iveagh House then it should be used for that purpose. Putting in an automatic fire detection unit now is like locking the stable door after the horse has gone.
There is a sum of £508,000 for Dublin Castle. That is quite a large sum. If it is a show place this may be money well spent. I believe it is, but there are many who do not agree with me. They feel that that £500,000 could be spent on more important things than in putting gilt on the Dublin Castle apartments and things like that. However, that is a matter of opinion and I suppose that all of us will never agree on these things.
I notice also that there is provision for building a computer. The amount is £300,000, of which £110,000 has been provided in this Estimate. I believe we are rather overdoing this computer business. Some of them seem to be programmed in such a way that they are turning out a lot of useless information and useless material. We have the typical example of the one in the income tax offices which produced some extraordinary things over the years, including the bill for £1,000,000 which the former Deputy Dillon's friend got some time ago. Deputy Haughey's comment that the only way to get over that was to pay the bill and that she would get a refund did not help at all. I had the experience recently of a constituent of mine who got a tax free allowance for 75p a week. He is married with three children and the employer named on the form was an employer with whom he had been working ten years ago. Nobody can explain how they got into the computer, unless it prowls around at night to find out what people did, but it drove the poor man up the walls because he was finding it hard enough to live on what was left after paying this tax. That is the sort of thing that happens and we should not rush into getting all this expensive equipment until we are at least able to make full use of the equipment we have already.
I notice that fitting out of new office premises for occupation in Kildare Street is to cost £25,000. This is quite a tidy sum for office equipment but maybe there is a computer stuck in there too. The new Revenue offices in Dublin Castle are to cost £1,085,000, £305,000 of which has already been spent, and there is to be a further £250,000 spent this year. With this, and a number of other Revenue Commissioners offices being repaired, I think that one of the reasons why the income tax people are so tough is because the conditions in which they work are so bad that nobody could blame them for not being terribly sympathetic with anybody who sends in a claim. It is absolutely ridiculous that even still when one goes into one income tax office to make an inquiry, first of all, one has to stand in a queue, sometimes a double queue, with a shutter as if one had to knock three times and say "Sesame" before one can get any service; after that a person may have to give his life story standing shoulder to shoulder with his next-door neighbour. This is all wrong, and if this money now being spent on the income tax offices is going to improve matters, I believe it will be money well spent. I think the very least that income tax payers are entitled to, if they go into an office to try to straighten out their sometimes very tangled income tax affairs is to be able to do so in private and not have to make an open confession, whether it is good for the soul or not.
In addition, the conditions under which people employed in income tax offices work are really bad and I honestly believe that an effort should be made to improve these conditions. I am rather surprised that the association which looks after them has not kicked up a bigger row. Quite a number of these people have to work in small, cramped offices with no air and certainly no air conditioning—I suppose they are heated enough in them. I would not mind so much if that is what the money is being spent on.
I am interested to know more about the Government offices in Monaghan which are to cost £30,000 and the new offices in Drogheda for which £115,000 is provided. I would like to know what this money is being spent on.
I am interested also in the amount of money being allocated for the socalled transfer to Castlebar of the Department of Lands and to Athlone of the Department of Education. Honestly, I do not think that anybody alive to-day or coming after us will ever see those transfers taking place. The miserly sum included here is evidence enough that there is no intention to move people and the fact that the Civil Service—and I believe rightly so, having made their lives in a certain area around this city, having built their houses and put their children in schools—should be asked at this stage to transfer en masse down to Castlebar simply because the former Minister for Lands and the present Minister come from that area seems a little ridiculous. On one occasion I asked if, when Deputy Faulkner succeeded as Minister, would that mean that they should transfer to Drogheda, and then move with every Minister, from home town to home town, finishing up like nomads with no fixed abode. The Government should be honest about this and say that they did fly a kite, an election gimmick, which possibly worked at the time, and having found that even the people they were trying to cod did not believe them, they should now say: “We made fools enough of ourselves; we are not going either to Castlebar or to Athlone”, and try to talk the people in the area who have invested their money in supplying accommodation for the civil servants, who will never go there, into doing something else with their buildings.
There are no buildings.
I know one neighbour of mine who went to Athlone and spent a considerable amount of money buying an old building in the expectation of hundreds of civil servants going down there and he is still licking his wounds.
It is not a matter for me. If the Government tell us to build them we will build them. It is not a matter for me to make the decision.
I quite agree, but the Parliamentary Secretary has a small amount there which possibly he could use far more efficiently. If the Parliamentary Secretary was allowed use it he would not continue to put it in here as if something was going to be done because he is a sensible man and he knows damn well that this is all cod. I am interested, too, in the money being spent on the new works for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. I am all with that, because it is money very well spent, but is it relevant to the Office of Public Works at all? Should this money be in this Estimate? Should it not be in the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Estimate?
They do the building.
And as soon as they finish, it becomes the property of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. That being so, I believe that this is a matter which that Department should look after.
I am intrigued by another item—I do not know if the Minister has noticed it himself. I wonder if he has compared the amount of money which the Government are prepared to spend on a memorial to Roger Casement with the amount of money they are prepared to spend on a memorial to John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Both were great men, but Casement was an Irishman who died in the cause of Ireland and this Government are prepared to spend £5,000 on a memorial to him—£1,000 this year and £1,000 last year—but in the case of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, also a great man, they are prepared to spend £3,810,000—£94,000 last year and they are putting in 1,000 this year to keep it going. Possibly there is a drawback—money coming from some other source which will be included— but I think that Roger Casement, if in a position to do so, would probably resent very much this attempt to devalue him at this rate, but I suppose he does not mind now what way the money is spent.
I wonder if the Parliamentary Secretary will also tell me what exactly is the position about Trim. He mentioned last year that certain work was to be done on King John's Castle. There is an amount of money allocated for it but what is it proposed to do and when does he think it will be done? That is a fair question and I should like an answer to it.
I should like to know what exactly is the point about Tara. We know that there is an appeal coming, but are there any plans? The late Donogh O'Malley announced many years ago that the State had decided that they were going to take over Tara. While some people seem to feel that because Tara is farm land, the owner should sell it as farm land and should take no cognisance of the fact that it is Tara and should not have extra value on that account. I do not agree with that because the man concerned—I only know him casually and he is not a supporter of mine as far as I am aware —is entitled to a fair price for it. The State were wrong in attempting to play down the value of Tara. In view of the cost of other places which the State have been developing, I think it was entirely wrong.
Tara is quite an important place and an effort should be made to have something done there instead of waiting until the High Court case is over and then take another five years before action is taken. It must be ten years now since the first suggestion of development of Tara was made. It will cost a lot of money. As it stands, unless you view it from the air it does not look very much. A rather discredited statue of Saint Patrick is about all there is to be seen. Possibly if you go to great trouble you can find the mounds but even the markers on these seem to have fallen down and nobody bothered to replace them. A certain amount of excavation took place there. This is a matter that should be treated as a matter of urgency and if the money allocated to Castlebar and Athlone was made available there at least something could be done with it.
Deputy Kenny also said the area I come from is very historic. So it is. As I mentioned in this debate last year the central portion of Meath, particularly in the direction of Drogheda, was inhabited and was a civilised area before many of the great civilisations in the world existed.
The Deputy is wrong there. Ballycastle, County Mayo, was the first inhabited area in this country. That has been certified by the archaeologists in the last year. The first inhabitants settled in that area.
Were they not very foolish? As has been shown at Newgrange, 1,000 years before Christ was born they were using Newgrange as a burial chamber. They had a rather intricate design on the front of Newgrange and it has been proved that at ten minutes past ten on 21st December the sun shines on a particular portion inside the chamber which is not visible at any other time of the year except with artificial light. It shows there was a very high degree of civilisation there so long ago. As many people know, the actual burial chamber is similar to burial chambers found in some places in central Europe.
We also have the Boyne Valley and while many of the ruins and old places from Drogheda right out to Trim are perhaps Norman, and later, they are much older than anything the Americans have and are well worth a visit when they come here. Sufficient emphasis is not placed on this and perhaps the tourist board more than the Board of Works could be encouraged to put more emphasis on it. We also have Kells. Last year I asked that the wall surrounding St. Columcille's House—where the Book of Kells is alleged to have been written—which prevented photographs being taken, be lowered and I was told it could not be done because it would interfere with the appearance of the house. Since then some work has been done but the wall has not been lowered sufficiently. However, it is obvious that people learn by mistakes.
We have many old monuments in County Meath. This is not anti-west but it appears that the Board of Works, the tourist board and everyone else thinks there is nothing worth preserving unless it is in the south or west. I think it should go on record that there is as much in the way of relics of antiquity in the Boyne Valley, and within range of it, including Aonach Tailtin, as in west and south put together.
I doubt that.
It is a matter of opinion. If the scoffers here have a day off I should be only too pleased to show them something they have never seen before. We have no guides except in Newgrange, where they were appointed whether they were related to aTD or not. The best people for the jobs were appointed irrespective of who they were.
The Parliamentary Secretary has made quite a good case about the improvements taking place in Garda stations but, like Deputy Kenny, I feel that the Garda stations throughout the country are, whether we like it or not, the public relations offices for many who come from abroad and seek information. If the Garda station is falling down, dingy and in need of paint, it does no good to the country's image or to the health of those who must spend their time in it. It is like a broken down school in which children must stay all day, with broken windows, the ceiling falling on to the floor and rats coming in. Thank God not many of these are left but there are still some. These things should get priority and nobody will ever object to the additional money being made available for them.
The Ceann Comhairle was a bit strict with Deputy Kenny as regards what was covered by the Estimate but since the Board of Works are responsible for carrying out certain work even though it is commissioned by the Department of Education we must refer to it here because the Department of Education were quick to point out to me some time ago that a priority list was in the possession of the Board of Works. I was in some difficulty regarding a school about which I required some information. I am still not quite clear whether it was the Department of Education or the Board of Works which decided that a school to be built at Killbeg, County Meath, should be put back and it is now much lower on the list than it originally was.
Ask the Parliamentary Secretary who is here now to give the names of the new schools.
It would be unfair to do so because I am sure he was not expecting this; accidentally I came to this part of my script when he arrived. When the Board of Works are making additions to schools, particularly pre-fabs, the location of these in a school yard is the responsibility of the Board of Works' engineers. It is wrong that they should do what was done in Duleek, County Meath, where they put a pre-fab in the middle of a pool of water and nobody could get in or out. It was with great difficulty that the Board of Works were persuaded to drain away the water. Eventually they did, so the school could be used but then the furniture had not been put in so the parish priest was blamed for that. Then it was discovered that nobody had made provision for heating. One after the other these matters cropped up and while far too many children were in an existing old school the new pre-fab was sitting in the middle of a pool of water for several weeks while somebody was deciding what should be done about it. The engineers in the Board of Works should ensure that a site is correct before a building is erected. They should also ensure that arrangements are made for the heating, furnishing and painting of the school before arrangements are made for opening it. I understand the Board of Works design the schools. One school in County Meath took two and a half years to build. One of the walls fell down three times. The local people said the builder was very bad but when I went to the builder and asked him what he was doing he said that he told the engineer at the beginning that it was bound to fall. He said the design of the school was at fault. Eventually some compromise was reached and the school was built. The school is Kilbride, in case anybody has any doubts, and they will find on their records that it took two and a half years to build and that one of the walls fell three times. It was worse than Jericho. This just should not happen.
To go back to the Department of Justice for a moment, recently I asked about a Garda station at Dun-shaughlin. Beside the Garda station there is a ball alley which, I understand, is owned by the Board of Works and there is also a plot of ground. I understand from Meath County Council that they have been attempting to purchase this plot for the purpose of erecting a fire station. The Department of Justice say they have no objection but that the Board of Works must give authority and the Board of Works say that the Department of Justice must give authority. Perhaps the Parliamentary Secretary would clear that up for me because it appears as if lines have been crossed and in the meantime the fire engine is rusting away in a leaking shed on the other side of the road.
I am rather interested in the Posts and Telegraphs section of the Estimate. One of the headings in the Minister's speech is "Amiens Street, Former Sorting Office—Adaptations". The estimate was £7,600—£3,600 was spent last year and £4,000 this year. I assume that completes the job. Could the Parliamentary Secretary say what happened to Sheriff Street sorting office? That is the one which was built at a colossal cost a couple of years ago and where somebody who had no intention of ever working in it designed it with glass at the back through which all the sun shone and through which all the coal dust from a coalyard at the back blew in. Every summer, whether it is warm or not, the workers there have been complaining about dust and heat. Can the Parliamentary Secretary say whether anything has been done to remedy this position? It was mentioned last year and the year before and it appears to have disappeared.
The amount provided for the Ballyfermot sorting office is £44,000— £42,000 was spent last year and £2,000 is to be spent this year. The best of good luck to the Parliamentary Secretary. If he could not build one in his own constituency where would he have one built? What has happened in regard to the modernisation at Black-rock? The revised estimate is £5,000 and it is being spent this year. If I remember correctly, for the last couple of years the Department of Posts and Telegraphs have claimed that they have been looking for a site for a new office. Indeed, they were talking of moving out of the district altogether to get a proper site. Has it been found that the existing office can be modernised?
Item No. 64 is for "Castlebar Engineering Headquarters and Garage". I hope that is not in anticipation of the extra traffic that will be there when the Department of Lands go there because if so it is a waste of £4,000.
Cavan New Post Office, £63,000— £20,000 last year and £30,000 this year. I wonder why the extra £3,000 was not put in to finish the job? They have been waiting long enough. They nearly got a new one a few years ago because there was a fire next door. Had it not been for the fact that the fire brigade were too good the post office might have been burned down. I see they will have to wait another little while for the new post office in Donegal because the estimate is £68,000 and there was nothing spent on it last year and only £1,000 this year. I assume this is for the site. It cannot be much more than that. How long will they have to wait for their new post office? The provisional estimate for the Mullingar post office is £50,000; £1,000 was spent last year and £1,000 this year. Are they to put it up a block at a time? Surely it is derisive to put in an amount so small as that and suggest that it will eventually be a post office? As Deputy Kenny said earlier, at this rate it will be another 48 years before there is a new post office in Mullingar.
While it is true that we got the Parliamentary Secretary's brief this evening it took a lot of quick reading and at the same time he has gone into great detail in it. For this I thank him and the officials who prepared it because it is not alone of great use now but it will be of great use in the next few weeks for reference purposes, particularly with subhead E on its own and numbered. We can follow the brief and find out at least what the position was as of November, 1971, if we want to check back and find out what is happening. Even though it was very late it is a great help because it is so easy to read.
There is the following reference in the brief to the restoration of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham:
The last of the five items is the restoration of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. The building has been allocated to the Department of Education to accommodate a folk museum and the natural history division of the National Museum. The first stage of restoration, which comprised the north wing, was completed in 1966. It is now proposed to tackle a further stage. Planning will take some time and the small provision of £1,000 is for planning expenses. There is no prospect of any works being done this year.
A sum of £1,000 for planning expenses.
Is this for engineers' or architects' fees or what is it for?
There are some serious architectural difficulties there, as far as I remember.
I am also touched by the fact that the picture gallery in Kilkenny Castle is getting attention. I am glad that the Parliamentary Secretary at least has trust in the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Deputy Jim Gibbons.
For a moment when I looked at item 27 I thought there must be a general election coming because I thought it was a start on the draining of the Shannon. I see it is not, but that £25,000 is provided this year to start a scheme of general improvements on the Shannon. Even that is pointing to something because whenever a general election is about to occur somebody prepares a scheme to drain the Shannon and it looks as if it is coming along again.
During the course of his speech the Parliamentary Secretary said:
Other harbour works being carried out by the Office of Public Works in Gaeltacht areas are paid for from the Vote for Roinn na Gaeltachta.
He also stated:
Provision is also made for improvement schemes at a number of other harbours, including Kilmore Quay, County Wexford; Reen, County Cork; Killala, County Mayo; Burtonport, County Donegal; and Cleggan, Emlaghmore and Roundstone, County Galway.
What has happened about Drogheda? A few years ago a substantial sum of money was allocated for it, some of which was spent on engineering development, some of which was spent building restraining walls. Has the grant been completed? Has all the money been drawn? There is a substantial plan there for the purpose of switching the harbour from Drogheda town to the mouth of the Boyne. I am interested to know what is happening about this plan because the new development will be within my constituency.
I agree with the remarks made by the Parliamentary Secretary about the Phoenix Park. It seems to be becoming more of a car park than a park for people to which to take their families. There seems to be far too much freedom for speeding cars. There will have to be some restrictions in order to ensure that the park remains a people's park. I am disappointed to find that we seem to be further away from the public golf course this year than we were last year when we were actually quoting the fee to be charged for a round of golf. Apparently this year we are satisfied about the feasibility of laying out an 18-hole public golf course in the Phoenix Park.
I hope to see the bull-dozers there soon.
How soon will the golfers be there? If it is going to be used this coming year the greens will have to be sown.
It is rather complicated and I should prefer to leave that aspect of it to the reply.
It will have to be sown pretty soon. One cannot sow the greens and expect to play golf immediately. Many people will expect to do this and that will be one of the biggest problems.
Work has started and some grassing is being done at the moment.
The fact that bus loads of people living in Dublin, particularly working people, go out to country golf clubs on Saturdays and Sundays in order to get a game of golf is proof that there is a demand for golf clubs around Dublin. Many golf clubs do not allow visitors at all particularly during certain periods of the year. If people have to go 40 or 50 miles in order to play a game of golf at this time of the year they will have to leave early in the day in order to get the light because of the shorter days. I am, however, glad to hear the public golf club is on the way.
The Parliamentary Secretary made a comment during his speech which I think on reflection he will agree is a rather funny one. He said:
...people in over-populated, over-developed countries so starved of the beauty of nature that they would pay a high price not just to own but to sit and watch for a short time occasionally even a small meandering stream of pure, unpolluted water...
If they want to see that in this country they will have to hurry up because the way things are going now they will have great difficulty in finding a clear, unpolluted stream. We are fast reaching the stage at which many of our streams are being polluted either intentionally or otherwise.
The arterial drainage of the Boyne which we all welcomed is going well. I hope the general tightening of the purse strings which occurred last year will not occur again and when the days get shorter we will not see people being laid off under various guises. It does not matter for what reason they are laid off, the fact that they are laid off means they are without a week's wages. I have already expressed the opinion on another Bill today that I consider it to be a very bad economy to lay off somebody from a job where he is earning £25 a week, because he has to be paid £10 or £12 social welfare and he does not have to pay insurance stamps or income tax. The net result over a period is that everybody loses, including the State and the taxpayer. If at all possible an effort should be made to keep the full staff going on jobs like this, particularly on the Boyne.
A number of people have complained about the wet land being denuded of wild life because of the drainage. Last year I asked the Parliamentary Secretary if he would consider making a wild life reserve of the estuary of the Boyne. He said he would consider it. I hope he has done so although I do not see any evidence that he has. It would certainly give the bird life which has to leave the wet lands as a result of the arterial drainage some place to go.
When these rivers are drained quite a number of public and private water schemes are completely dried up. I brought one particular case in a place called Bective, Navan, to the Parliamentary Secretary's attention. May I pay a compliment to the Parliamentary Secretary and his officials because as quickly as they could they made arrangements with Meath County Council to have something done about it? This was not, however, very successful because even though it is almost winter the water has not yet been restored. I am not blaming the Board of Works, apparently other people were not able to do what they had promised and the result is that the boring has not been carried out.
Apparently somewhere in the small print in the Arterial Drainage Act there is a stipulation that the Board of Works are not responsible for any wells or other water supplies which are affected by arterial drainage. If this is the position it was a sneaky sort of thing to do.
It was in 1945; I was not around then.
They were as tricky then as they are now. It is a terrible thing for 20 or 30 families who have invested all their life savings in a water supply to find, because the Board of Works have drained the river, that they have no water. The Board of Works have no responsibility and merely refer these people to a section of the Act. If that is not the position perhaps the Parliamentary Secretary will say what can be done in such cases. He did agree in the Bective case that he would give assistance but he told me he only did that because he felt the people had been badly treated by having a very expensive supply taken from them. If they have any redress I should like to know what it is because a number of other instances have occurred and the number is growing daily. The Parliamentary Secretary will have to do something about this particular problem. In some cases the local authority are involved but in other cases it is a private water supply. In one case it was almost a public supply, it was a group scheme, and everybody in the group has lost the water supply he had. The Parliamentary Secretary cannot simply shove the matter aside. He must do something about it. He was helpful in regard to the one case brought to his notice. I have written to him about another and I await his decision.
There are many other problems created by the draining of these rivers. One of these is the question of soil disposal. There have been many complaints in this regard from people in the West of Ireland where major schemes have been carried out. I understood that when the Boyne drainage was taking place special arrangements were being made to ensure that there would be no spoil left along the banks of the river, particularly in the Boyne Valley. As a result of a court action the problem has been overcome to some extent and the portion of the river from Navan to Drogheda is being scoured only and not sunk but from Navan upwards towards the Bog of Allen the river is being deepened and already very unsightly heaps of spoil can be seen along the banks. When a small landowner finds that the biggest heap of spoil happens to be on his land while his neighbour, who may have several hundred acres of land, appears not to have any spoil on his land, it is difficult to persuade the smallholder that this must have been accidental.
My request to the Board of Works would be that they would make some effort to dispose of this soil. We are now living in the age of the conveyor belt and since there are so many disused quarries throughout the country, it should be possible to use this spoil for filling-in purposes. Usually the spoil is material upon which nothing will grow and consequently it cannot be spread on the land.
With the Boyne, as with other rivers that have been cleaned, problems have arisen in some areas in relation to tributaries that have not been included in the schemes. Last week the Parliamentary Secretary received a deputation of a group of people from the Summerhill area who believe that the particular stream in their area should have been included in the Boyne drainage. I was sorry that, because I was engaged in the House, I could not accompany the deputation. However, I understand that the reason given for the particular stream not being included was that there are some rare plants growing in the district and these might be ruined by the drainage of the river. All I can say is that was a very rare excuse because I have been checking since then and have found that these plants have been growing in other places for many years and in fact are very common in County Meath. Apparently someone was chancing his arm and almost got away with it.
The planning of any drainage scheme takes place over a long period and that being so it is only reasonable that anybody who has a complaint regarding a river or drain in his area which is not being included should recognise that fact when the rivers are pegged before the start of the scheme. If at that stage the drain or stream is not included a person could go along and inspect the plans and if, subsequently, he is assured of the omission, he would have no difficulty in making representations at that point. I have great sympathy with the people who went to see the Parliamentary Secretary last week but, at the same time, I realise the difficulties involved at this stage when the drainage has almost reached their area. The inclusion of the stream now would entail a revision of the scheme so as to include a stream which they believe, and rightly so, should have been included in the first place. I do not know what action the Board of Works will take. I have a suspicion they will wait until the scheme has gone so far that they can do nothing about it and will tell the people so politely. Unfortunately that would be no solution.
Regarding the maintenance of these rivers, the local authorities through whose areas they run have a mandatory demand on them for a certain amount of money in respect of maintenance. Regardless of whether the money is spent, it must be paid. Having regard to a particular case last year, and to what is likely to happen again this year in regard to the Glyde and Dee, it looks as if the amount of money available is not sufficient to pay for all the work and the result will be that there will be loss of employment. Some system will have to be devised whereby a subvention from the State will be paid because unless the rivers, once drained, are properly maintained, the entire expenditure will have been wasted.
Depending on which side of the political fence they happen to be sitting, many people for some years have been criticising the Local Authority (Works) Act. One of the reasons why this act was not as useful as it might have been was that very few people spent either any money or energy in cleaning the rivers each year. Those of us who have knowledge of these matters, particularly rural Deputies, know that because of cattle running along the banks of a river and for other reasons, river banks fall in and if not cleared will cause an obstruction which will result in a short time in the river reverting to its original state. If the money is not available for this purpose because of wage increases or increased costs, the Department should make up the balance.
Another matter I wish to refer to is that of coastal erosion. In my constituency there is very little coast erosion as such but we have the problem of the tide gradually going under walls which are protecting banks and roads. It is only a matter of time before all the foundation disappears from under these walls. Once it begins to disappear, it is necessary to take down almost the whole wall and replace it with a new one. This work is very expensive. I wonder would the Parliamentary Secretary tell us if this can be regarded as coast erosion. I see danger in my area of roads being affected. Very near to where I live a concrete shelter that cost almost a £1,000 to erect may be damaged if this particular erosion continues. Perhaps the Board of Works could make available the necessary money to deal with problems of this nature.
