Bille é seo, mar is léir óna theideal, chun diúitéthe áirithe ioncaim dúiche d'éileamh agus do ghearradh, chun an dlí bhaineas le custaim agus ioncam dúiche, maraon le mál, do leasú, agus chun tuilleadh forál i dtaobh airgeadais do dhéanamh. Baineann an chuid is mó dá bhfuil ann leis na Rúin Airgeadais lenar ghlac an Dáil tar éis na Cáinfhaisnéise. Ós rud é nár gearradh aon chánacha nua le cáinfhaisnéis na bliana seo, ní dhéanann an Bille seo ach na cánacha atá ann cheana do bhuanú arís; ach athraíonn sé cáin ioncaim agus cáin bhrabúis chorpráide ar bhealaí áirithe. Tá cúpla mion-rud eile sa Bhille, freisin, ar a dtabharfa mé tuairisc le linn a scrúduithe sa Teach so.
Níor deineadh aon athruithe, mar is eol daoibh, ar na cánacha coitianta i mbliana ach chomh beag. Nuair a bhí na figiúirí airgeadais go léir bailithe agus scrúdaithe agam, bhí sé soiléir ná beadh ar mo chumas an caiteachas go léir fháil trí chánacha, gan ualach rothrom do chur ar lucht íoctha cánach. Mar sin do shocraíos ar an méid sa mbreis a bhí uaim dfháil ar iasacht mar a dheineas anuiridh. Is é mo thuairim go n-aontóidh na Seanadóirí liom sa bheart san.
Senators no doubt are already familiar with the main features of the 1944 Budget which I introduced in Dáil Éireann on the 3rd May last. I do not propose, therefore, to trouble them with the complicated details of national revenue and expenditure which I then placed before the other House and which are contained in the various White Papers then presented. In conformity with the Budget the Finance Bill, 1944, contains no new taxes. It provides, however, for a number of adjustments in regard to income-tax and corporation profits tax and for one or two minor matters which I shall explain in the course of its passage through the House.
When I addressed the Seanad on the Second Stage of the Finance Bill, 1943, I pointed that the revenue estimates for 1943-44 were framed on the assumption that no major disturbance would arise affecting our economy and I am glad to say that this assumption was justified. Although we have had to contend with many difficulties arising in particular from the curtailment of vital supplies, we have been able through imports from abroad and intensified development of native resources to continue to provide industry and agriculture with a fair measure of essential materials and equipment. As a result economic activity in 1943-44 continued to be fairly satisfactory and I am glad to be able to report a continuance during the year of that welcome buoyancy in the revenues to which I referred here last year.
The yield of revenue at £43,780,000 was, indeed, remarkably heavy, being £2,198,000 in excess of the estimate and £4,052,000 in excess of the previous year, despite the fact that the 1943 Budget effected only minor alterations in taxation. Receipts from property and income-tax, including surtax, increased by nearly £1,500,000, and from corporation profits tax by over £1,000,000. The return for customs and excise was also beyond expectations. Tobacco, which contributed about four-fifths of the total customs revenue, yielded £9,081,000, being an increase of £1,112,000 on the previous year, whilst on the excise side, beer and spirits yielded £6,299,000, an increase of £1,112,000, on the previous year, whilst on the excise side, beer and spirits £1,000,000. As expenditure at £45,009,000 was £1,160,000 less than anticipated, the close of the financial year revealed an actual deficit of £529,000 as compared with an estimated deficit of £3,555,000.
As regards the current year, our estimate of tax revenue on the basis of existing taxation is £39,050,000, an increase of £1,882,000 over the actual receipts for 1943-44. Customs revenue at £11,605,000 is expected to show an increase of £217,000, excise revenue at £8,780,000, an increase of over £750,000 and inland revenue at £18,215,000 (£11,510,000 from income-tax) an improvement of £982,000 on the previous year. As non-tax revenue is estimated at £6,585,000, the total receipts of tax and non-tax revenue are estimated at £45,635,000. The position, therefore, is that, emboldened by the unexpectedly heavy yields in 1943-44, we are budgeting for £4,053,000 in excess of last year's estimate.
I must, however, emphasise once again that this somewhat optimistic estimate is dependent on a variety of circumstances over few of which we can exercise effective control. It has been framed in anticipation of the economic fabric of the country remaining undisturbed. There can, of course, be no certainty as to this. In these days of diminishing supplies, the estimated increases in yields from customs and excise, for example, cannot be regarded as anything but conjectural. Indeed, difficulties have already been experienced in obtaining sufficient supplies of tobacco leaf, while the curtailment of racing fixtures and entertainments owing to transport and lighting restrictions may seriously affect the yield of revenue under these heads. Further, in estimating for an increased yield from income-tax, we have assumed that there will be an increase in commercial profits generally but this assumption may be seriously upset if the present acute trading difficulties become accentuated or prolonged.
As regards expenditure, the original estimated cost of the Supply Services was £44,983,000. As I pointed out on Budget day in the Dáil, to this must be added provision for Supplementary Estimates of £180,000 for the Department of Supplies in respect of wheat subsidy; £34,000 for the Department of Local Government in respect of the provision of cheap footwear, and £33,000 for the Department of Industry and Commerce in respect of mineral development, making a total of £45,230,000. Since then, however, four Supplementary Estimates for sums totalling £347,810 have been presented to the Dáil to cover additional estimated expenditure of £342,000 by the Department of Supplies in respect of fuel subsidy (£200,000) and the building of additional turf camps (£142,000), £3,000 for reformatory and industrial schools, £2,800 for the Department of External Affairs, and a token Vote for unemployment insurance and unemployment assistance. Further, the Government has recently authorised millers to dispose of mill offals, resulting from the production of the lower extraction flour, at a price below the £15 per ton previously fixed in May of this year. In January last it was estimated that approximately £2,000,000 would be required to subsidise flour during 1944/45. The estimated annual loss to the industry arising from the sale of offals at reduced prices is £510,000, which could be met either by an increase in the price of flour of approximately 5/- per sack, which would mean an increase of 1d. in the price of the 4lb. loaf, or by an increase in the flour subsidy. The Government, having regard to the reactions which a rise in the price of flour would have on the cost-of-living index figures, has decided on the latter course, and I have agreed to the introduction by the Department of Supplies at a later date of a Supplementary Estimate in respect of flour subsidy. Accordingly, to the estimated total figure of £45,230,000 for Supply Services, referred to above, must now be added sums of £347,810 and £510,000 to make a revised total estimate of approximately £46,087,800.
Following precedent, certain specific outlays of a capital nature amounting to £1,069,000 have been earmarked to be defrayed from borrowing, thereby reducing the total amount in respect of Supply Services to be met out of revenue to £45,018,800, to which is to be added £4,994,000 for Central Fund Services, making a total of £50,012,800. The total estimated revenue at £45,635,000 is £4,377,800 less than this estimated expenditure figure. I do not consider it feasible, however, to bridge this gap by additional taxation. Existing imposts are heavy and, as our economic difficulties become more acute, it will take the combined efforts of all sections of the community to avoid economic dislocation on a large scale. I have no doubt that Senators will agree with me that increased taxation is not the type of lubricant desired for such a situation. I propose, therefore, to meet the uncovered deficit by borrowing.
The amount of our estimated expenditure is unprecedented, but I would say that nearly one-third of it refers to services which we would not have to finance in normal times. With the passing of the emergency, we can look forward to radical reductions in charges such as those arising from the special provisions to meet the increase in the cost of living, estimated at nearly £8,000,000 for the current year, and from the expansion in the Army, the cost of which is now over £8,600,000. On the other hand, it must be borne in mind that our plans for the post-war period must involve the Exchequer in increased expenditure. Plans for housing, the provision of school accommodation, afforestation, arterial drainage and tourist development, are under consideration. It is estimated that the electrification of the rural areas will involve considerable expenditure. The proposed reorganisation of transport, with the details of which Senators no doubt are already familiar, will involve the Exchequer in contingent liabilities of substantial amounts. Plans have also been made for building and reconstruction projects of many kinds, especially in relation to hospitals and public health services.
Having regard to our limited resources, execution of the foregoing programme must, of course, be based on certain assumptions, namely, that the cost of the Defence Services will be greatly reduced after the war and that emergency services of the kind to which I have already referred will practically disappear. The twin burdens of emergency services and post-war development would be unsupportable. Whether our plans for the future come to fruition depends also to a great extent on the success of our efforts now in maintaining intact the credit of the country and stimulating employment in agriculture and industry.
In the monetary sphere, it is inevitable having regard to our position, that the pressure of inflationary forces should become steadily more acute as the emergency is prolonged. The Government has tried to control by every means at its disposal the upward movement of prices, which is the active factor in inflation, and, by maintaining checks on profits and remuneration and by the encouragement of savings, to restrict purchasing power. I regret to say, however, that despite our efforts, we have not been wholly successful in restricting these inflationary forces. Indeed, the rise in prices of commodities produced here has now reached such dimensions that any further continuance must be strenuously opposed. We must endeavour to preserve our price and wage structure from becoming so deranged as to endanger our eventual resumption of international trade on a favourable basis. In its further efforts to check unhealthy expansion the Government must have the full co-operation of all citizens.
The financial position which I have just outlined contains many sources of danger. We are increasing expenditure without any serious increase in taxation, and our estimates of revenue are, in present circumstances, based on somewhat optimistic grounds. In recent years, however, we have been blessed with revenue yields far in excess of anticipation which have helped to reduce borrowings much below anticipated levels. Even if our hopes in this respect do not materialise in the current year, I think that our financial structure should be capable of bearing the strain.
