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Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 Mar 1934

Vol. 18 No. 8

Acquisition of Land (Allotments) (Amendment) Bill, 1934—Final Stages.

I formally move amendment No. 1:—

Section 2, sub-section (2). To delete in line 34 the words "from time to time."

I beg to second.

Amendment agreed to.
Amendment No. 2:—
Section 7, sub-section (1). Before paragraph (b) to insert a new paragraph as follows:—
(b) to any local authority, for the purpose of enabling such local authority to supply, free of cost, to unemployed persons to whom lettings of allotments have not been made by such authority under the Principal Act as amended by this Act but who are in possession of land containing not more than one-quarter of a statute acre in the case of any one individual, provided that such land is used by such individual for the production of vegetables mainly for consumption by himself and his family, seeds, manures and potato spraying materials for use on such land, and to provide agricultural implements for use by such unemployed persons free of cost for the cultivation of such land, and.—Senator Comyn.

Cathaoirleach

I have to rule out of order amendment No. 2 on the grounds that it is contrary to the Bill as read a Second Time.

I suppose I will have an opportunity of speaking later on that matter?

Cathaoirleach

Yes, on the Final Stage.

Question—"That the Bill be received for final consideration"—agreed to.

Ordered: That the Fifth Stage be taken to-day.
Question proposed: "That the Bill do now pass."

At this stage it would be proper for me to refer to what I consider to be a matter of some importance in relation to the measure which is before the House. The measure provides that advances may be made for the purchase of manures, seeds, and agricultural implements for unemployed persons who have received allotments under the Principal Act. I think the Bill would have been greatly improved if that provision were extended to unemployed persons in towns who do not need allotments and who have land capable of cultivation and which is usually tilled but which they cannot at the present time afford to till owing to want of employment. I believe if the matter had been brought to the notice of the Minister at an earlier stage he would have so drafted his measure as to cover the class of persons to whom I refer. The fault is not his and neither can it be said to be my fault, because I did not receive representations from the urban authorities in sufficient time to lay them before the Minister.

They were late with their suggestion. They remind me of the chicken in the sailor's egg; they spoke too late. Still a question that is of great importance has been raised. Why should an unemployed man, to whom a plot has been given, get these facilities for cultivating his plot when you refuse them to an unemployed man who has a plot but who cannot cultivate it because he has neither seeds nor manures? It may be thought that this is a matter which is not of wide application. From my experience of country towns—especially the older towns—almost all the workmen have little plots of about a quarter acre. The matter is of such urgency that the Minister might consider the advisability of having a substantive measure introduced to deal with it so as to prevent discontent that will be aroused in urban areas because of the partial application of the beneficial provisions of this statute.

I should like to express the hope that some means will be taken to see that these allotments, when provided, are cultivated. Everywhere in the country, the plots attached to the cottages are largely uncultivated. Some of them have five or six years' grass growing on them. They are going to waste. I hope that that will not occur when these allotments are provided. I approve of the Bill, on the whole, because it is a good thing to encourage people to be industrious and to grow vegetables for their own use. I should like to have some information as to what is meant by "agricultural implements" as applied to half-acre or quarter-acre plots. Does the term refer to a spade or a plough or a rake or a spring-toothed harrow? That term is more or less a laughing stock to the people. A spade would be quite sufficient for a quarter acre.

How can an unemployed man get a spade? Is he not as much entitled to a spade as you are to a plough?

I am not disputing that for a moment. I am merely asking what is meant by "agricultural implements" under this Bill. I am asking for information. If the allottee can get a plough, I shall not grudge it to him. With regard to agricultural implements, the foundries in Wexford are lying practically idle. Half the people employed in making agricultural machinery two years ago are not now employed on that work because no farmer is able to buy agricultural machinery. That is a thing of the past. Agricultural machinery is not being bought at all by the farmers and if, at the farmers' expense, the owners of these allotments are going to be supplied with expensive agricultural machinery, it will be a serious matter. For that reason, I should like some definition of what "agricultural implements" means.

I hope the Minister will see that some clause is inserted in the Bill which will ensure that the plots are put into cultivation. Most of us know that a great many of the plots under the labourers' cottages scheme are not cultivated. I think that that is a crying shame. Moreover, we know that on several occasions, when grants have been made from the rates and from other sources for the supply of seeds, a number of people have availed of the scheme and disposed of the seeds otherwise than by planting them to provide food for their families. Two years ago, we provided seeds and manures so that people might cultivate their plots. A number of them disposed of the seeds and never planted them. I hope the Minister will see that when seed, manures and farm implements are provided under this Bill, the land will be cultivated. We are all in favour of the Bill, which is necessary for the assistance of poor people. What we are anxious about is that the allottees should take advantage of the facilities and cultivate the plots.

Senators need not have any fear about these plots being properly kept. As I reported when speaking on the Second Reading of this Bill here, we had about 146 such plots given last year to the unemployed. The inspector who inspected them wrote most enthusiastically of the way the plots were kept. He said that they were excellently kept and splendidly cultivated and that there was only one case in which a plot was somewhat neglected. This Bill, as Senators are aware, does not deal with labourers' cottage plots or existing plots at all. It deals with allotments taken over by urban councils to let out to unemployed residents of the urban areas. While it is true that some of the plots attached to labourers' cottages are not in the best condition, we cannot blame the unemployed who are going to get these new plots for that. Senator Comyn asked whether something could not be done, even by way of a new measure, in regard to existing plots. That matter has not been considered. I do not know whether there is any great need or demand for such a scheme, what would be the extent of such a scheme or what would be the cost. Unless all these things were examined, I could not reply to the Senator's question. The agricultural implements required are just a spade, a fork, a rake and, perhaps, a hand-spraying apparatus. It would be rather difficult for an unemployed person, who got one-eighth of an acre, to provide equipment for a plot of that extent, because the cost would be up to 14/- or 15/-, excluding the cost of a spraying apparatus. It is proposed under this scheme to keep a number of these tools at the centre of the allotment scheme and they will be lent out to each worker as required.

Question put and agreed to.
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