I beg to move:
Go ndeontar suim bhreise ná raghaidh thar £10 chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1930, chun Costas an Airm, maraon le Cúl taca an Airm.
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £10 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending 31st March, 1930, for the cost of the Army including Army Reserve.
It will be seen that the sum is one of only £10. It is merely a token Vote, because it does not add any further sum of money to that already voted on the original Estimate, and this expense will be met out of moneys therein voted. Certain sub-heads are exceeded and new ones are created, so that it is necessary to bring them before the Dáil. If you extract the first and third items the other four arise out of the creation of the Volunteer Reserve and the O.T.C. units. The first item arises out of the general re-organisation of the Army, in which, as we have decreased in size, certain N.C.O.s and other men become supernumerary, and it is proposed to give them small gratuities. Item No. 3—"Animals and Forage"— comes from the fact that last year it was made clear to us, particularly as we are a horse-breeding country, that it was necessary that our jumping team should appear at a number of foreign shows. That necessitated an increase in the general equipment for animals, etc., and that is the reason for the token Vote. The clothing and equipment is for the Volunteer Reserve and the O.T.C. The item of general stores also is due to the creation of the Volunteer Reserve and the O.T.C. The same reason applies to barrack maintenance, and incidental expenses also arise out of the creation of the Volunteer Reserve and O.T.C. As I have already explained, this is not adding to the amount voted in the original Estimate last year. The Estimate at that time did not include either the Volunteer Reserve or the O.T.C., for the reason that I was not in a position of being certain that we would advance to the stage of getting these organisations when the Estimate was being prepared. I take this opportunity of saying that I frequently referred here to the proposed creation of those bodies. Judging from the discussions that took place on those occasions, the proposal quite naturally met with the approval of the Dáil. I say "quite naturally," because I think that the creation of the Volunteer Reserve and the O.T.C. is one of the most hopeful signs of the times. These bodies have no relation to party politics. They are recruited from young men belonging, if they like, to any party or to no party, and they come forward to give service to their country.
The response which we have had from those bodies has very far exceeded anything that I expected, and I regard that response as one of the finest signs of what I might call a return to normality in this country, where people tend to think more of the State as a whole than of their own individual political or other opinions. To me it is very gratifying to see the way that these young men have come forward for those organisations. For the sake of charity I may explain again that items Nos. 1 and 3 are not associated with the Volunteer Reserve or O.T.C. and that all the other items directly arise out of the creation of those bodies.