I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
The Irish Sailors and Soldiers Land Trust was established after the First World War to provide houses for Irish ex-servicemen who had fought in that war. Over 2,000 trust houses were built throughout Ireland at the time. The trust was formally established under section 3 of the Irish Free State (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1922 but this section did not come into operation until the passage, the following year, of legislation to enable the trust to acquire and hold land in the State and to facilitate the transfer to the trust of houses already built.
The trust comprises five members, one of whom is appointed by the Taoiseach. The others are appointed by the British Government. Lord Killanin has been the Government nominee on the trust since 1955.
Over the past 60 years, the number of beneficiaries of the trust has declined and there are fewer than 100 trust tenants throughout Ireland now, most of them in Northern Ireland. With the consequent sale of property, the trust accumulated surplus funds. These funds are held in London where the administrative headquarters of the trust are located. In 1983, the trustees formulated proposals for the disposal of their surplus funds and put these to the Irish and British Governments. The proposals formed the basis for subsequent discussions and agreement was reached in 1986 for the repayment of the surplus funds in the ratio of 68 per cent to the British Government and 32 per cent to the Irish Government. These percentages were based on the original contributions whether in money or in kind of the two Governments.
I would like to take this opportunity to record the Government's grateful appreciation to Lord Killanin for his efforts as a trustee to bring about a settlement of this issue. It was largely through his work that agreement was reached.
The settlement was regarded by all concerned as satisfactory and equitable and its terms were incorporated in legislation passed by the British Parliament in 1987. As well as providing for the distribution of the surplus funds of the trust, the British legislation enables the trust to be wound up in due course.
Following the enactment of the British legislation it is necessary to pass legislation here to facilitate the acceptance and disposal of the trust funds and to enable our legislation in this area to be repealed in due course. This Bill will achieve these purposes. It is, as the House will see, a very short measure with just five sections. The rights of existing trust tenants will not be affected by the Bill.
Sections 2 and 3 are the main sections. In section 2, there is provision for the acceptance by the Minister for Finance of any money payable to the Irish Government from the trust. The sum of £1.6 million was in fact paid over by the trust last January and this was lodged at the Exchequer. A further sum of £747,000 has recently been paid to the Government. As the trust was anxious to pay over these funds as quickly as possible, it was considered sensible to accept them in anticipation of this legislation and legal advice concurred with this view. It is expected that over the next few years, there will be further payments — of a smaller nature — by the trust as it continues to accumulate surplus funds.
The Department of the Taoiseach have had a close involvement with the affairs of the trust down through the years and the Taoiseach has the function of appointing the Irish Government's representative to the trust. During discussions with the British Government which led up to the agreement on the repayment of the surplus funds, there was an understanding that the Irish Government would endeavour to use their share for North-South or Anglo-Irish co-operation or for projects with an all-Ireland dimension. Section 2 also provides for the disposal of the money paid into the Exchequer. The Taoiseach has already announced the Government's intention, subject to the passing of this legislation, to allocate a portion of the funds received to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, to enable it to purchase a relief lifeboat and expand its search and rescue facilities on the west and north west coast. As the Taoiseach said at the time, the Government are confident that there will be widespread approval in the House for this proposal. The RNLI is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is seemed to the Government to be a very appropriate recipient of funds from a trust which has been concerned with the welfare of sailors and soldiers.
Consideration is also being given to a number of co-operation projects in the educational, cultural and social field. The British Government, in accordance with their legislation, are allocating 40 per cent of their portion of the trust funds for the support of ex-servicemen's charities North and South. The balance of the British Government's share will be lodged to their Exchequer. A sum of £750,000 has already been provided in the Estimates this year to assist the type of project I have mentioned. Pending decisions on the terms of the legislation and as a contingency arrangement, a new subhead for the trust funds was opened in the Vote for the Department of Foreign Affairs at the beginning of the year. This subhead contains the provision of £750,00 and it will be necessary, in consequence of the provisions of the Bill, to transfer this to a new subhead in the Vote for the Taoiseach's Department, by way of Supplementary Estimate. This will be moved at the conclusion of the debate on this Bill. I expect that the funds from the trust will be allocated over a three to four year period and the provision will cease once the funds paid by the trust have been drawn down.
The British legislation provides that the trust can be dissolved by order of the Foreign Secretary. Section 3 of the Bill will enable trust legislation applicable in our jurisdiction to be repealed following the dissolution of the trust. It is unlikely that this will happen for some time yet and, in the interim, the trust will ensure the rights of existing tenants. At the winding up stage also there will be a further repayment of funds to both Governments but it is not possible to quantify this at present.
The other provisions of the Bill are the standard ones relating to expenses, etc. and do not call for specific comment. I recommend the Bill to the House.