I want first of all to deal with the financial points made by Deputies in relation to the Estimate proper. A number of Deputies remarked on the magnitude of the increased expenditure under the travel subhead. I accept that this is a matter for concern and that these criticisms can understandably be made because of the scale of these increases. I should like to make clear, however, that travelling expense excess is only one part of the increase, indeed a minority. I was asked by, I think, Deputy O'Kennedy, how much was the air fare section of the bill. The year is not over yet and we have not got this. It will come in gradually, but roughly speaking the portion of the air fare paid to Aer Lingus will be in the order of £12,000, but there are, of course, other air fare payments where the bookings were made through other channels in other countries. I could not give the total for air travel but I can say that the figure is abnormal.
Deputy O'Kennedy raised a point in relation to a matter which I had informed him on before the debate, a sum in the order of £40,000 for air fares. That is very much of an estimate, my own private estimate and not of the Department because it is not possible to estimate to what basic figure the increase would be applied. It looks as if the rate of increase for the year as a whole would be in the order of 15 per cent, but exactly what the 15 per cent will be on in these un-normal circumstances I could not say. It would be in the order of £30,000 to £40,000, I imagine.
As I mentioned at the outset, an important element is the question of devaluation. It poses a very great problem for my Department, much more than for other Departments though it is something other Departments will have to face in a relatively minor way. In our case, the element of travelling abroad presents a real difficulty from this point of view. Deputy O'Kennedy suggested that the devaluation of the pound was well under way when the Estimate was prepared and that we should have been able to foresee the trend, but if one could foresee that kind of trend one could make a lot of money in currency exchange transactions. The fact is, of course, that it is not easy to foresee what the value of any currency will be for any prolonged period ahead and indeed in respect of certain important currencies there was no trend in the period when the Estimate was being prepared which would have justified a forecast of the kind of climate that occurred. The Estimates were finally prepared in September, 1974 on figures furnished in April, 1974. In August, 1974, the dollar was at 2.37 to the £. Ten months later it was at 2.31 and I understand from today's newspapers that it is 2.3. The Canadian dollar was at 2.31 in August, 1974, 2.30 in June, 1975 2.05½ in September, 1975. The yen was 6.93 in August, 1974, 6.62 in June, 1975 and 6.16 in November, 1975.