I move:
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £5,019,000 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 the Minister for Industry and Commerce, including certain services administered by that Office, and for payment of sundry grants-in-aid.
This Supplementary Estimate is necessary to meet excess expenditure on certain subheads of the Vote which could not be foreseen when the original Estimate was framed.
The sum of £120,000 provided under subhead A is mainly required to meet pay increases over the year for the staff of my Department. The total cost of the increases is £107,500.
In addition it is proposed to provide a sum of £12,500 to meet expenditure by the National Prices Commission on the employment of consultants who have assisted the commission in carrying out its work. The commission, which was established by me in October of last year, has already made a positive contribution to the development of an effective prices policy, and it is my hope that it will continue to carry out its tasks with the same vigour and enthusiasm that have marked its efforts up to now.
The original allocation of £23 million in respect of capital expenditure by the IDA represented an increase of £4.5 million on that for the preceding year, but a further £4.75 million is now required to meet the authority's commitments. Of this amount, £2 million will be required to meet grants in respect of new industries, bringing the estimated expenditure under this heading to £19.35 million. The increase arises principally from the progress being made on certain large projects, in the matter of factory buildings and equipment. Grants this year in respect of three of these are expected to amount to £8.5 million.
An additional sum of £2.75 million is required to finance the re-equipment grants scheme, bringing total expenditure on re-equipments grants under the original Estimate and this Supplementary to £5.75 million.
An additional sum of £190,000 is required to meet the administration and general expenses of the Industrial Development Authority. The finance is required mainly for advertising and promotional activities, and to meet salary increases.
A high proportion of industrial inquiries is generated by advertising, and full support is essential to secure maximum benefit from the authority's comprehensive publicity campaigns. The unfavourable publicity arising from the troubled situation in the North of Ireland; and the desirability of publicising the relevant benefits of EEC membership, are further factors necessitating intensive publicity at present.
Arising from a recent grade pay award to the authority's officers, whose remuneration is fixed in relation to that of analogous grades in the Civil Service, a sum of £65,000 is included to meet the additional cost.
It had been hoped that SFADCo would be able to meet their operational commitments for the current year out of an allocation of £329,000. In the event, however, they found that a further sum of £50,000 was required to meet their commitments, particularly as they considered it essential, in view of the redundancy situation which had developed at Shannon, to undertake a major promotional effort in collaboration with the Industrial Development Authority.
The amount provided under the technical assistance subhead for the year 1971-72 was £314,000. An additional sum of £42,000 is needed, as expenditure to date under this subhead indicates that the provision will not be sufficient to discharge claims expected to be lodged before 31st March, 1972, and it is proposed to increase the provision accordingly.
A sum of £118,000 was provided under the subhead for the Irish National Productivity Committee for the year 1971-72. An additional sum of £45,000 is needed to cover essential expansion of the educational and advisory services of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and research by bodies supported by the committee. It is also necessary to meet expenditure arising from additional costs, directly or indirectly attributable to the nationally negotiated pay increases.
I am seeking an additional amount of £17,000 to cover the expenses of the Committee of Inquiry into the Insurance Industry. Practically all this further expenditure arises in connection with a computer programming exercise, and a consultancy project, carried out in recent months for the committee on the subject of motor insurance. The task of examining this difficult subject has turned out to be much more onerous than originally expected and I understand that a further two months at least will be necessary for the committee to complete its examination.
A sum of £5,000 is required to meet the cost of care and maintenance of the Rossmore (New) Collieries Ltd. coal mine, closed since 1970 because of financial and management difficulties. This exceptional expenditure was necessary to ensure that flooding of the mine would not render it unworkable. Negotiations for the sale and reopening of the mine are proceeding.
I recommend the Supplementary Estimate to the House.
