I did. When I married I lived on £3 4s a week. That is the difference. I know what it is like. I lived in a corporation house. I know what it is like to pay differential rent. I am not a middle-class snob like the Deputy. I got it hard. I was often hungry. The Deputy was not. To deal with the capital budget, under the heading of "Building and Construction —Housing," the outturn in 1971-72 was £37.83 million. The estimate for 1972-73 is £41.78 million. Under the heading "Local Authority Housing," it is stated:
The provision included for local authority housing in the 1971-72 budget was £19.5 million. A supplementary allocation of £1 million was made in October, 1971.
This was in order to inject more money into building and construction and housing. It shows again that the Government were ever thoughtful of this problem and conscious that additional effort had to be made. I quote from paragraph 22:
This additional allocation together with savings on other housing services enabled expenditure on this programme to rise to an estimated £21.6 million in 1971-72. The allocation for 1972-73 is £23.9 million which includes £6 million for housing to be provided under the guaranteed order project.
The guaranteed order projects were schemes whereby the Minister has sought to have a large number of low cost houses made available as quickly as possible. Quite a lot of money has been made available. These houses are being provided. We can see them as we travel through our constituencies. This is a very creditable and very realistic project. The fact that £6 million has been provided for guaranteed order projects shows clearly the outlook of the Government and of the Minister. I continue the quotation from the notes on provisions included in the public capital programme:
This project is being carried out largely by the National Building Agency Limited on behalf of local authorities.
Paragraph 23 of the notes is as follows:
Output in 1971-72 was about 5,000 dwellings as compared with 3,700 in 1970-71 (in which year output was affected by a cement strike) and 4,706 in 1969-70. On 31st January, 1972, work was in progress on 7,734 dwellings, as compared with 7,105 a year earlier.
Under the heading "Grants and Loans", the notes say:
Expenditure on grants for the erection and reconstruction of houses and loans by local authorities for house-purchase is expected to amount to £17.2 million in 1972-73. Expenditure in 1971-72 was £15.8 million.
Under the heading "National Building Agency", the notes say:
An allocation of £0.68 million is being made to the National Building Agency Limited for its industrial programme under which the Agency expects to have about 350 dwellings completed in 1972-73. Expenditure in 1971-72 was £0.45 million.
Under the heading "Sanitary and Miscellaneous Services", the estimate is £8 million as against £7½ million last year and the bulk of this is on water supply and sewerage schemes required for new housing and new industry and on improvements to existing services. The miscellaneous services include fire fighting and fire prevention, rehabilitation of itinerants, library services and the provision of swimming pools.
You see here, again, £4½ million more was made available this year. Again, the Government and the Ministers concerned have shown forward social thinking and forward planning. They have planned in the same way for the same net result as was achieved in accordance with the gross national product and industrial development, as shown in the paper, Economic Freedom, produced by the Congress of Trade Unions.
The Capital Budget 1972 makes the following comments:
Expenditure on the erection and improvement of national schools during 1971-72 amounted to £3.70 million. A sum of £4 million is being provided for 1972-73. The policy of amalgamation of small rural schools is continuing. To the total of 80 special schools for mentally and physically handicapped children presently in operation, plans have been completed for the addition of a further eight such schools in 1972-73. The provision of modern heating and sanitary facilities in existing schools is continuing.
All this shows that money is being made available to help in the field of education. Additional money is also being provided for reformatory and industrial schools.
With regard to health, we see that a sum of £5.75 million is being provided in 1972-73 as compared with £4.30 million in 1971-72. The Capital Budget 1972 states:
Projects completed in 1971 include a new assessment unit at St. Augustine's, Dublin, a new psychotic unit and staff chalet at Delvin, Co. Westmeath, a new staff home and training school at Lisnagry, Co. Limerick, and adaptation work at Carriglea, Co. Waterford. Work is nearing completion on new units for adults and staff chalets at Moore Abbey, Co. Kildare, and also on new adult units, a workshop and staff accommodation at Peamount, Co. Dublin. Other schemes in course of construction are new units for children at Palmerstown, Co. Dublin, Celbridge, Co. Kildare, and Cregg House, Sligo, and adaptation work at St. Patrick's, Kilkenny and St. Anne's, Roscrea. Work is expected to begin during the year on several schemes, including new units for children at Tracton Park, Cork, new adult units at Clonsilla, Co. Dublin. Celbridge, Co. Kildare, and Kilcornan, Co. Galway, a hostel for school-leavers at Glenmaroon, Co. Dublin, an assessment unit at St. Vincent's, Dublin, and a day care centre at Waterford. Planning is proceeding on new centres at Galway and Limerick and on additional units and facilities at other centres.
It is necessary to make the position clear because no member of the Opposition mentioned anything that had been done in relation to social welfare benefits or the matters I have mentioned. The Capital Budget 1972 also states:
Tenders have been approved for a 50-bed psychiatric unit at Galway Regional Hospital and it is planned to provide further units at six other centres. Tenders for the provision of Work Therapy Units at Ballinasloe, Castlebar, Portlaoise, Letterkenny, Skibbereen and Sligo Mental Hospitals have been sanctioned and planning is well advanced for units at other centres. Work continues on schemes for the renovation and upgrading of existing buildings at Ballinasloe, Cork, Ennis, Enniscorthy, Monaghan, Mullingar, Sligo and Youghal Mental Hospitals. Planning is in progress on improvement schemes at Castlebar, Killarney, Letterkenny and Portrane Mental Hospitals. Work is in progress on the adaptation of a building at Ushers Island, Dublin, to provide a 60-bed centre for disturbed adolescents and adolescent drug experimenters.
This shows that efforts are being made to deal with these problems but there has not been any indication from the Opposition that there has been any activity. In the short time they took to deal with these problems they moaned and groaned but did not refer to the progress being made or the plans for the future. It is obvious that Deputies did not read the Capital Budget 1972; it is obvious they did not listen to the Minister's speech or read the newspapers. If they had done so they would have known about the progress being made. The Capital Budget 1972 refers to accommodation for the aged and it states:
The building programme to replace unsatisfactory accommodation in county homes by modern units has been in progress since 1966. Schemes at present in progress will provide a further 1,230 beds. Major schemes in progress are at the county homes in Ennis, Castlebar, Roscommon, Sligo, Longford and at the County Hospital, Tullamore. Planning is in progress for new or improved accommodation at other centres. Special welfare homes for aged persons who do not need to be hospitalised will be a feature of the programme. The first of these homes is nearing completion at Kilrush. Tenders have been approved for welfare homes — 40 beds in each — at Carlow, Dungarvan, Nenagh, Roscrea, Bray and Boyle.
This shows that there has been much activity in regard to providing accommodation for the aged. The Capital Budget states with regard to general hospitals:
Projects completed include new operating theatres at the Mater Hospital, Dublin, and the Shiel Hospital, Ballyshannon, and a new nurses' home at Temple Street Hospital, Dublin. Works in progress include a major scheme of improvement at St. Laurence's Hospital, Dublin, and the provision of an intensive care unit at Jervis Street, Hospital, Dublin. Planning is in progress on other projects.
It is obvious from this that money is being made available and that progress is being made but it is necessary to put on record what is being done. I am sorry that no Deputy from the Opposition indicated that he appreciated that progress is being made. The only reaction was one of hostility to the budget. No credit is given for the improvements that have taken place. The Capital Budget 1972 states:
Among the schemes completed at health board hospitals during the year were improvements of facilities and provisions of new equipment at Galway and Limerick Regional Hospitals, and provision of a new operating threatre and other facilities at the County Hospital, Tralee, improvements to the paediatric unit at St. Finbarr's Hospital, Cork, and a new dispensary, dispensary residence and nurses' home with some hospital accommodation at Kilronan, Aran Islands. Work is continuing on improvements at St. James's Hospital, formerly St. Kevin's, Dublin, and at St. Colmcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin. Planning of the new 600-bed Regional Hospital at Cork has been completed and tenders have been invited.
This demonstrates that the Government have examined every aspect of general hospitals and have given financial help. If we enter the Common Market we will have more money available to ensure that every section will receive benefit from improved medical facilities.
I shall not deal in detail with agriculture because there are many others more competent than I who will discuss this matter. However, I should like to point out that the Estimate for 1972-73 is £18 million. The Capital Budget 1972 makes the following point:
Because of the rapid increase in demand for agricultural credit the original allocation of £6.3 million for the Agricultural Credit Corporation for 1971-72 was increased to £13.5 million. The growth in deposits enabled the extra demand to be met without Exchequer assistance. It is expected that the ACC will be able to finance 1972-73 expenditure without help from the Exchequer. As in 1971-72, the Corporation expect to finance the bulk of their transactions from repayments on existing loans and receipts from their deposit schemes.
The ACC are to be commended; unfortunately they do not always get the credit they deserve. With regard to forestry the Estimate for 1972-73 is £3.95 million. It is stated in the Capital Budget that the provision is in respect of land acquisition, planting and development. The amount included for land acquisition in 1972-73 is £0.72 million as compared with £0.46 million in 1971-72. The area planted was 25,000 acres. The business of a Government is pretty comprehensive and far beyond the capacity of the Opposition who do not seem to realise that it involves such a wide field or to visualise the vastness of the problem. One can see from the documents which are made available to us and to the Opposition that a vast amount of work has been done to ensure that every aspect of Government gets fair consideration.
In Fisheries also there is an increase. The provision last year was £1.04 million and this year is £1.92 million. The expenditure is on grants and advances for the acquisition of boats and gear, the installation of ice plants and the improvement of boatyards. Nobody is forgotten by the Government and again we see that the Government's business is pretty comprehensive, much more so than the Opposition seem to realise. They select one aspect of it and make a speech on that. Some have spoken for ten, or 15 or 20 minutes. That is the sign of a good budget.
There is a variety of other matters one could mention in regard to transport, the air companies, CIE, B & I, Irish Shipping and investment grants for ships. The outturn there last year was £16.24 million and the estimate for this year is £24.50 million. We are broadening the scope and one senses the vastness of the operation. Examining these documents one can appreciate that this is a pretty comprehensive matter to which the Opposition will have to give more thought if they ever hope to be able to tackle it.
The provision for industry in 1971-72 was £31.41 million and the 1972-73 estimate is £37.79 million. The original allocation for the Industrial Development Authority for 1971-72 was £23 million; it was increased during the year to £29 million. Expenditure was £27.75 million and for 1972-73 the estimate is £28.2 million. This is being provided for expenditure by the authority on grant payments, industrial estates at Galway and Waterford and advance factories. One readily realises the importance of the industrial estates, which are now providing valuable and viable employment, and also of advance factories. Provision is being made to ensure that more factories and more job opportunities will be available and that industrial estates will continue to prosper.
In the period from 1952 to 31st December, 1971, a total of 890 large and medium sized industries had been approved for grants, amounting to £99.2 million, of which £56.5 million had been paid. The capital investment involved is £322 million. When at full production these projects will employ an estimated 79,000 workers. From 1st April, 1967, to 31st December, 1971, grants amounting to £4.68 million, of which £2.95 million have been paid, were approved in respect of 695 small industrial projects with an employment potential of 8,800 workers, involving a total capital investment of £10.6 million.
On adaptation grants approved between 1963 and 1968 and re-equipment grants introduced in 1968, a total of £23.8 million has been paid on foot of grant approvals totalling £35.6 million. Expenditure on industrial estates and advance factories has amounted to £5.71 million in the period 1966 to December, 1971. All this shows the Government have not been asleep and have been doing their job. This is backed up by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions who have acknowledged this in the paper to which I referred earlier.
In 1971-72 a budget of £3.25 million was made for capital expenditure by the Shannon Free Airport Development Company on factory construction and allied purposes at Shannon and elsewhere in the Limerick-ClareNorth Tipperary region and on the provision of houses and community services at Shannon. The allocation was subsequently increased to £3.75 million. Expenditure was £3.52 million. In 1972-73 provision of £3.74 million is being made. For grants by Shannon Free Airport Development Company to industries at Shannon, mainly for buildings and machinery and the training of workers which is very important, provision of £500,000 is being made as compared with 1971-72 expenditure of £0.28 million. For grants for new houses for workers at Shannon £0.07 million is being made available as compared with £0.05 million expended in 1971-72. Not only is the development of industry, its adaptation and re-equipment catered for but so also are homes for the workers. The business of Government is not as easy as some Opposition speakers seem to think when they say: "The Government did not do this, or do that." It is a business that must be dealt with in great detail.
Employment at the Shannon industrial estate decreased in 1971 due to a recession in the two key markets of the US and the UK. There were 25 manufacturing firms, 11 commercial and service concerns and eight warehousing concerns in operation at the end of 1971. These employed 4,249 persons. Ninety-three factory buildings and 12 warehouses were completed; five factory buildings were under construction; 889 houses and 167 flats were completed by the company and a further 319 houses were under construction. This shows the thought behind the development and expansion at Shannon and its employment potential, notwithstanding that some people said that rabbits would be running around it some years ago. Instead, we now have the situation where we have many important industries there.
We could also deal with Irish Steel Holdings and other concerns but I do not want to take up the time of the House. Yet, certain matters must be mentioned in order to ensure that the public and the politicians fully understand what government is about.
The provision for industrial credit in 1970-71 was £9.82 million and the outturn was £8.38 million. In 1972-73 this will be increased to £14 million, a fairly substantial increase. Provision for capital expenditure by the Industrial Credit Company Limited and their wholly-owned subsidiaries in 1972-73 is £10 million. I might also deal with other matters but I shall not do so now other than to say in relation to telephones that I hope the scheme for the development of an effective and efficient telephone service in Dublin will be expedited. Industrial and building development is being hampered at present as a result of lack of facilities in certain sections of the city, notwithstanding the fact that he outturn for last year was £11.11 million and the estimate this year is £13.73 million. The provision for 1972-73 is being spent on the installation of new telephones, the provision of local overhead and underground plant and the enlargement of the existing exchanges, the extension of automatic working into new areas and the provision of additional trunk circuits and on other needs to improve the quality of service and to cater for the growing volume of traffic. I hope the Department of Posts and Telegraphs will take into consideration new and developing industrial sites to ensure that the services are available in advance of the industries so as not to impede in any way industrial development. The lack of facilities in some areas at present requires immediate attention.
I am very happy about the way the trade union organisation and the workers have measured up to the National Pay Agreement and that we have had a period of industrial peace. I would appeal to workers and to responsible trade union officials to ensure that we have continued industrial peace. For a period we had a very bad name abroad probably magnified by erroneous statements about Irish workers and the trade union set-up here. A fair amount of false propaganda percolated out of the country and probably coloured the minds of some industrialists who might have come here to establish new industries. I hope industrial peace will continue and that agreements will be fully honoured both by employers and by workers, agreements that will ensure that workers get a fair return for their labour and ensure that our industries are able to compete in conditions of freer trade. I have absolute confidence in Irish workers. I am certain they are as good, as intelligent, as efficient as workers anywhere else. They have been sought after in the US, in Britain and on the Continent. I am certain that when we enter the EEC we will have an efficient labour force which will be able to meet the competition there. I have no fears in relation to Irish workers. As congress has stated, if there are increases when we enter the EEC due to price rises, the job of congress will be to ensure that workers will be compensated. This is as it should be.
We have some problems in industry at present. I am sure they will be solved with commonsense and with time. There are irritants and factors which affect all of us from time to time. Some of them have undesirable national effects, others have undesirable local effects but sometimes these things are treated in a shabby way by employers who in some cases refuse to talk until the damage is done. I am not referring to any particular dispute but speaking in a general way of employers who fail to talk until a problem develops and then hope that the public, the Government, the trade union organisation, the Labour Court or somebody else will come in and solve their problems. The more we meet and discuss problems the better chance we have of meeting additional competition. When we appeal for industrial peace we hope that industrialists will equip themselves to deal with the situation, that many more personnel officers who understand people, who understand problems, will be made available to ensure that when workers are dealing with management they will be dealing with people who understand people and not with people who understand a production line and nothing else. One of the weaknesses of management is that managers have tended to do everything themselves. They may understand production line problems and cost factors but they probably do not understand people and their problems. It is desirable that the industry should attune itself to the situation. Many industrialists have employed personnel officers and these have given excellent service. They make it easy for people who want to negotiate on a commonsense basis because they understand problems. That is their field. I would appeal to industrialists who have not yet met this basic requirement to put their house in order and employ proper personnel officers. Individuals differ. A person may be nervous or difficult to deal with but it is the job of a personnel officer to understand these things. However, misfits who have proved themselves a disaster on the production line or at some managerial level have been pushed into personnel work and further confused the situation. There are personnel officers who are in that position because they were misfits elsewhere. This is not right. These people should be properly trained and equipped. These misfits have caused a variety of problems for unions, workers and the concerns employing them. An efficient personnel officer is as important as a highly technical manager.
There is always a tendency after budgets to increase food prices and decimalisation increased the cost of living. I hope the Department of Industry and Commerce will ensure that there is no price increase as a result of this budget because there is no reason why there should be. Some traders may have bought in large stocks of certain items in anticipation of increased taxation and may now try to offload them at the expense of the public. I hope that the Department will keep an eye on this matter especially at this stage when these traders might be inclined to increase prices. It is the practice of certain shopkeepers to avail of budgets as a means of increasing their income. They did the same in respect of decimalisation. Some of these people made substantial profits after decimalisation. I hope that for a period there will be stabilisation of prices.
Some of the statements made by the scaremongers here were designed to create unrest in the minds of the people. However, I think I have indicated clearly that the country as a whole will benefit from the provisions of this budget.
I welcomed the extension to Ballyfermot of the industrial retraining of workers and I hope that it will be possible to extend it to other centres in the near future so as to ensure that persons who lose their jobs as a result of free trade or greater technological change will be fitter to meet the challenge of new employment. In this way, too, people who have been retrained will be available to work where new industries are being developed. While the figure for unemployment is higher than I would wish it to be, there are many factors outside our control that have contributed to this problem One of these is that there has been no outflow of people from this country for some time, but rather that we have had people returning from Britain because of the bad economic situation there. As well as the unemployed there are people who are unemployable and various others who could not be put in the unemployment category.
I would ask the Minister to ensure that there is provided a register that would indicate exactly how many people are unemployed as distinct from unemployable, so that we would know what is the situation rather than to have to listen to figures being bandied around this House in relation to the number of people in receipt of social welfare benefits. We should like to know also how many people are being retrained for alternative employment. There is seasonal unemployment, too, in many firms and there is the factor of female labour. In the sweet manufacturing industry, for instance, there are lay-offs before Christmas and Easter because by that time each year programmes have been completed. It is at such times that Deputies table questions regarding unemployment. Women who take part-time employment apply for benefit on the termination of that employment and these, too, are included on the unemployment register. All these factors must be considered when discussing the problem of unemployment. There is no use saying that when the people opposite were in office there were 100,000 unemployed or that 60,000 people were leaving the country annually. We must know what capital is available to ensure the expansion of the economy.
This budget provides for the injection into the economy of a large amount of money by way of grants which will help solve the problems of various industrial concerns. It is well known that the Government agencies are anxious to identify in good time those firms that may be running into difficulty so as to ensure that everything possible will be done to help them.
The Redundancy Act has meant payments to people during the period of retraining. Recently I attended a conference of the Parliamentary Union in the Cameroons. I listened while a number of committees were discussing the problem of redundancy. There were representatives there from all over the world and I realised, having listened to them, that we were far ahead of them in regard to the problem of redundancy and that many years ago we had put into practice some of the schemes that these people were only beginning to think about now. I was amazed to hear that some of the African countries, as well as countries from other Continents, have been examining the scheme of redundancy that we have here. It was gratifying to hear that. They seem to know as much about how we operate the scheme as we know ourselves. They have studied in depth the scheme we have for retraining workers and they were impressed by our method of paying grants and travelling allowances in respect of persons who are moved to where employment is available, and a variety of aids to workers on which they intend now to work.
It was not the only matter in respect of which this country was mentioned. It was mentioned many times during the course of the conference in relation to the progress we have made, the industrial development and aids to industry. In some cases we were very far ahead in our thought in relation to social welfare compared with some countries, and some European countries too. It was indeed gratifying to discuss with the politicians of the various EEC countries their fears prior to entry to the EEC and the situation as they see it now. Many of them had fears and these fears were far beyond the fears that have been expressed here. The fears expressed here, exaggerated as they are, were far behind the fears they felt at that time.
They are now quite happy that this is the answer to the problem and quite happy about the set-up and they hope to welcome Ireland into this Community in a short time so that they can avail of the opportunity to discuss matters with us and have available the knowledge we have as we can gain from their knowledge in relation to what defects we may have. In this way we will have a Community in which we can examine in detail grave defects where we have defects in relation to any matters which need attention.
There are many matters, small and large, which need rectification here. I do not say that everything is perfect or that there could not be greater improvements in some sectors. I feel that there could be greater improvement in all sectors, but this again must be related to our capacity to make the necessary finance available.
This budget is designed to ensure that when we enter the EEC, in the belief that we will enter and I am quite positive we will, the people of this country, who are realistic and intelligent, can examine the situation in relation to the problems of the EEC, how it will affect themselves and their families and not alone how it will affect their children but their children's children. This is important. We cannot just be concerned about one factor alone. We must take a broad view of the situation in all its aspects, and particularly in relation to the future aspects, because the future of this country is very important. It is important that we plan for the future and do not plan merely for today or tomorrow, saying that maybe something will happen the day we enter the EEC, having no regard for the wide variety of advantages that will flow from our entry.
I am quite certain that when the decision is made and people have examined the situation in detail, once they examine the anti-EEC literature, they will see how exaggerated it is. Having examined the literature they can then make any inquiries they like, and I suggest that they should make these inquiries with regard to some of the claims made here and in this literature. If they make inquiries, I am quite certain that the housewife, who is a very intelligent person, will know in a very short space of time who is trying to mislead her. This has been displayed on very many occasions in the last number of years, despite all the types of propaganda which we heard in the pre-election time.
Again I would like to say that it is rather disturbing that we cannot have here effective debates without complete distortion, and there has been distortion. I asked some time ago, if I could get clarification of what Deputy Cosgrave said as it appears in this book. I do not want to deal with it until I get clarification, but deal with it I will and the longer it takes to get the information, the more trying it is going to be on the people concerned. It would appear from this that everybody in Fianna Fáil is corrupt. This has come from the Leader of the Opposition and I had hoped that by now some member of the Opposition would have come in and said that this is not what he meant or not what he said, and we would then forget about it for the time being until such time as it is clarified; but if Deputy Cosgrave wants to talk about corruption and corruptible people, we can talk about the corruption and the corruptible people. It is very much my concern that it would put a number of members of his party to shame. I do not intend to do that if I get the answer to my question; if I do not, I will have no hesitation in dealing with the matter in a very wide way, in such a way that he will be sorry he ever uttered such words.
In regard to the credit unions I am very glad that the Minister has clarified this matter at this stage because it is a matter which has caused concern in the minds of many people who are operating credit unions at the moment. These credit unions have a very important place in the community. They have done wonderful work in the various areas in which they operate and no words of mine would be adequate to describe the work done and the service provided by the personnel who operate them. I am happy to say that in my constituency there are quite a number of branches doing this very valuable and important work. It is something which should be supported in every way possible, so as to ensure that people who for one reason or another wish to avail of it will have this very important and very confidential service readily available to them.
Before the credit unions were developed to the point which they have now reached, we had many money-lending vultures who extracted vast sums of money from unfortunate people. In some cases one found that they paid back many times more than the loan they obtained. The credit unions are doing a very important job and they have averted much distress. They are confidential and very creditable organisations and I hope the Minister will give comprehensive consideration to any problem that may arise in relation to them and so eliminate the fears which some people felt, and indeed fears which I felt myself, for a period that rough justice might be done to these credit unions. I know many of the people who operate credit unions and I am glad to say that this fear has been removed for the time being. I hope that when a full examination takes place, the credit unions will benefit from any decision the Government will make, that they will be enabled to develop and ensure that the good work they are doing will be multiplied and increased.
Credit unions encourage people to save and are able to advise them. When people got into the grips of hire purchase companies and money lenders which put them in difficulties not for two months or six months but, perhaps, for a lifetime, they were assisted by the credit unions. Some of these money lenders are still in existence but the credit unions have done wonderful work in eliminating the probblems with which people in certain areas were confronted. As I have said, the credit unions have improved the areas in which they operate. People have been encouraged to mix with one another in their neighbourhood and they understand one another's problems better. The organisers and officers deserve credit for the excellent work they have done and continue to do.
Unfortunately, many credit unions are housed in unsuitable accommodation. Dublin Corporation have been of great assistance in this connection, although there have been problems which delayed the erection of halls or offices for credit unions. I hope local authorities will make available as quickly as possible facilities which will benefit the area in which credit unions operate. These organisation have helped the local authorities in many ways. They have prevented the development of problems in relation to the payment of rates and rent, although some people push the credit unions aside when they seek a concession or a piece of ground on which to erect an office. I would appeal to local authorities to give special consideration to these voluntary organisations who assist them in their work and, therefore, ensure that the community will benefit and that the property in an area will benefit. People are in a position to make their homes look better both inside and outside and they are saving the local authorities money. On page 40 of his speech the Minister said:
Before coming to my concluding remarks there are two important matters to which I wish to refer. The first of these is equal pay for women, which the Government accept in principle and which is now affirmed as a national aim. The second relates to efficiency in the public service.
I am glad the Government now affirm equal pay as a national aim. There are problems in relation to this both for women and for men, but the implementation of equal pay would eliminate some of the discrimination against women workers which has been evident for so long in certain places.
The Minister refers in quite some detail to the question of efficiency in the public service. An increase in efficiency is to be welcomed either in the public service or outside it. There is room for improvement in efficiency in relation to the services we provide as Deputies as well as to the service provided by civil servants or servants of local authorities. Efficiency must reach such a high pitch that we shall be able to take our place among the other nations of Europe. We have all come across cases where there has been too much red tape, where there has been a lack of understanding between the officials administering a service and the people who are seeking that service. An increase in efficiency will benefit everyone.
Everyone has on occasion to make contact with some Department of State. Some people have to contact Departments daily. This is one of the very important matters mentioned by the Minister — the need to ensure maximum efficiency in the service. We are all aware of this problem.
Every action brings a reaction. These reactions have to be examined in order to improve the quality and efficiency of the service. By using foresight and seeking expert advice where necessary and with the aid of computers and mechanisation a very high standard can be achieved. Equipment may be a large factor in some of the problems. Efficiency is retarded by lack of adequate modern machinery.
The question of the housing of certain Departments and certain personnel and their proximity to one another is another very important matter. This does not relate only to Government Departments. In Dublin, for instance, one may have to travel to 23 or 24 offices in order to get information in relation to one or two problems. This is undesirable. There should be proper planning of housing for public offices. We should not rely on the outmoded system of sending a messenger from one building to another. In Dublin city there is one problem that affects people and Departments—the traffic problem. To send a despatch from one building to another may take a considerable time. The planning and location of the various services is a matter that must receive immediate consideration.
If Members of the House were to pool their ideas there would be a large pool of suggestions as to how certain sections could be administered so that we could get a better service. The service provided for Members of the House is sometimes inadequate. The telephone service in the House is absolutely deplorable. This matter must be rectified without delay. I would ask the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance to take note of the telephone service in the House. It is chaotic at times. I do not know the answer. It takes longer to make one telephone call than it does to write 40 letters at times. There are other services that Members could benefit from.
The question of providing a photostat machine was under examination. Deputies often want a copy of a document without delay. There are no photostating facilities here, even where Deputies could pay for the service. The services to Deputies must be increased. If greater efficiency is demanded in the public service, we, too, must be able to provide efficient service.
