I move:—
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £24,383 chun slánuithe na suime is gá chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1933, chun Tuarastail agus Costaisí Oifig an Aire Gnóthaí Coigríche agus Seirbhísí áirithe atá fé riara na hOifige sin.
That a sum not exceeding £24,383 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1933, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for External Affairs, and of certain services administered by that Office.
The total of this Estimate for 1932-33 is £79,383. The total estimate for 1931-32 was £61,689, made up of an original estimate of £59,879 and a supplementary estimate voted in March, 1932, of £1,810. The net increase, as compared with last estimate, is therefore £17,694. This somewhat large increase is not due, in any great extent, to increased services or to increased rates of pay. It is due in the main to: (1) The inclusion of a sum of £9,644 for compensation to officers, serving outside Saorstát Eireann and Great Britain whose salaries and allowances are fixed in national currency, in order to make good to them the depreciation in their emoluments that followed the abandonment of the gold standard in September, 1931. (2) The inclusion of a sum of £3,508 as the estimated extra amount of national currency required (a) to meet the salaries fixed in foreign currency of other officers serving outside Saorstát Eireann and Great Britain, and (b) to meet other payments, that is, travelling expenses, postage, stationery, telegrams and telephones, newspapers, etc., which have to be made in currency other than national currency. (3) The inclusion of an exceptional item under sub-head A.5 (Official Entertainment) of a sum of £5,500, which was, at the time the estimate was compiled, intended to cover the cost of fitting out premises suitable for the State Reception on the occasion of the Eucharistic Congress in June, 1932. These three items accounted for £18,652, and if they were excluded the estimate for 1932-33 would be £60,731 as compared with an estimated normal expenditure of £59,879 in 1931-32.
Dealing with the special item of £5,500 referred to above provided to meet the cost of the State Reception on the occasion of the Eucharistic Congress, at the time that this item was prepared it was contemplated that premises which were not Government property would be used for the State Reception. In April, however, the Executive Council decided that the Reception to His Eminence the Papal Legate should be held in Dublin Castle. Any expenditure on the fitting up of the Castle premises would be expenditure on State property which would be available for future occasions. Accordingly the Castle premises were re-decorated and restored. The main expenditure on this work will fall on the Vote for Public Works and Buildings. Only such portion of the expenditure as is unreproductive will fall on the Vote for the Department of External Affairs. It is anticipated that when final adjustments have been made the total cost of the State Reception which will fall on the Vote for the Department of External Affairs will be about £1,600, as compared with £5,500 provided for. The balance will represent a saving for surrender to the Exchequer.
The Government has arranged for the setting up of a Consulate at Chicago in order to provide further facilities for our nationals in the U.S.A., both in regard to protective functions and in regard to development of trade. The office for the present, at all events, will consist of one Consul with a stenographer, and the estimated annual cost, inclusive of rents, etc., will be about £2,400 at current rates of exchange.
In furtherance of the Government's policy to develop Continental countries as markets for Saorstát products, a new post of Commercial Secretary has been created at Paris.
The Saorstát Minister for France has also been accredited to Belgium and it will be thus possible for the Legation at Paris to safeguard Saorstát interests in that country also.
In order to afford the Dáil information as to the total net cost of maintaining foreign representation I would direct attention to the fact that to the figure of £79,383 in this estimate must be added the sum of £1,710 as on page 307 of the printed estimates. In addition, in order to get a clear view of costs, the sum of £11,660 provided for in the Vote for Public Works and Buildings must be added to cover the cost of rents, maintenance, furnishing, etc. of Saorstát establishments abroad. The total gross cost is therefore £92,753. As against this total gross cost it is necessary to set off fees collected by the Department both at home and abroad. These fees for the current year will, it is estimated, amount to £40,000. This is £16,000 in excess of the sum of £24,000 shown on page 307, the excess being due mainly to (1) the increased number of passports and visas granted abroad for visitors on the occasion of the Eucharistic Congress. and (2) increased value in national currency of the fees collected in foreign currency owing to the abandonment of the gold standard.
It is not anticipated that the full £79,383 of this estimate will be expended before the end of the year. A saving of approximately £9,500 is anticipated, due mainly to the following circumstances:—(a) a saving of £1,700 in the item—salary for the Minister for External Affairs — the duties of this post being performed by the President. (b) A saving of approximately £4,600 on the provision under Sub-head A.5 for official entertainment. (c) A saving of approximately £2,000 in the provision for Germany, due to a vacancy in the Minister's post.
Other casual savings will bring the total up to a net of £9,460. It will thus be seen that the total net expenditure on External Affairs for the current year will be £43,293, or about 4/-for every £100 of the total State expenditure.
