I move:—
Go ndeontar súim ná raghaidh thar £53,197 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, 1935, chun Tuarastail agus Costaisí Oifig an Aire Gnóthaí Coigríche agus Seirbhísí áirithe atá fé riaradh na hOifige sin. (Uimh. 16 de 1924.)
That a sum not exceeding £53,197 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, 1935, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for External Affairs, and of certain services administered by that Office. (No. 16 of 1924.)
The amount of this Estimate for 1934-5 is £80,197, an apparent increase of £2,516 over the financial year 1933-4. To this must be added a sum of £14,209 for amounts included in other Estimates, bringing the gross estimated expenditure to £94,406 as shown on page 316 of the Estimates Book.
There are two items in connection with the Estimate which may require some explanation. One is the inclusion of a sum of £5,000 for the purchase of stamps—that is sub-head A (6), and the other the amount shown on page 316 of the Estimates Book for fees collected abroad for passports, visas and Consular services, £500. As regards the sum of £5,000, the practice is to purchase from the Revenue Commissioners stamps for the passport offices and all the establishments abroad. These stamps are purchased for cash. Stocks of stamps at all establishments have to be kept to the value of between £4,000 and £5,000. Up to about three years ago the receipts from passports issued at home, on each of which there was a considerable margin of profit, were sufficient to keep the stock of stamps abroad to the proper level. With the decrease of emigration, however, the receipts from the issue of passports at home declined so much that this procedure was no longer possible. To get over the difficulty, a sum of £5,000 was advanced from the Contingency Fund in the year 1931-32. This money has now to be repaid to the Contingency Fund, and it is for this purpose that the House is asked to vote this amount. There will thus be a floating balance of £5,000 available to maintain stocks of stamps at all our establishments.
In regard to the item of £500 for fees collected abroad, Deputies will see that in the year 1933-34 the corresponding figure was shown as £29,000. In previous years the figures shown in the Estimates included the estimated amount payable to the Revenue Commissioners for stamps during the financial year. These amounts were paid out of the Vote for External Affairs to the Revenue Commissioners direct and the fees collected in stamps were recouped to the Vote. The corresponding figures for 1933-34 will be approximately £13,500 and £600 respectively. The figures for 1934-35 will probably show very little change. It will be understood, of course, that 1932-33 was an exceptional year because of the holding of the Eucharistic Congress. Some further explanation with regard to the item of £500 may be necessary. In establishments abroad, fees are collected in local currency. It is essential that the amount in local currency when converted into national currency should not be less than the face value of the stamps cancelled. Consequently, a small margin is sometimes left between the amount collected and the face value of the stamps cancelled. This margin may be described briefly as a profit in stamps or on the exchange and goes to the Exchequer through this Vote as an extra receipt. This is the only Exchequer receipt in this Vote in respect of passports, visas, Consular services abroad.
As I have already stated, this Vote for 1934-35 shows an increase of £2,516 over the Vote for the year 1933-34, but if allowance is made for the new sub-head for the purchase of stamps (£5,000), which is not an expenditure in the ordinary sense, the Vote shows a decrease of £2,484. The money which is being voted for the purchase of stamps is really in the nature of an Imprest with which to purchase stamps from the Revenue Commissioners for the purpose of collecting revenue. It is no way comparable with a sub-head like salaries and wages or travelling expenses.
The other sub-heads of the vote call for very little comment. There are slight increases under salaries, wages, etc., at headquarters, incidental expenses and telegrams and telephones.
Abroad there is a substantial decrease in the Estimate for salaries, wages, etc., (£3,647) due to the fact that it was not necessary to make provision for exchange compensation and loss on exchange in America in the current year. If, however, exchange compensation and loss on exchange were excluded, the provision for salaries, etc., would show an increase of £2,764 spread over the various countries in which the Saorstát have direct representation. It is not necessary, I think, to go into further details on the question of the Vote itself. Now, as regards the general position of the Department, one of the matters that would naturally arise would be our relations with Great Britain but as these have been discussed over a period of 20 hours on the last Vote, I do not propose to refer to them here again. The routine work of the Department of External Affairs does not bring it into touch with Deputies and members of the public in the same way as the routine work of the other Departments of State.
It may be well, therefore, to give to the House a short sketch of the work done in Headquarters office and in the office of the Department abroad. I shall first deal with the work done in the Headquarters office. Deputies will remember that the Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924, confided to the Department of External Affairs the charge of the "administration and business generally of public service in connection with communications and transactions between the Government of Saorstát Eireann and the Government of any other State or nation, diplomatic and consular representation of Saorstát Eireann, in any country or place, international amenities, the granting of passports and visas and all powers, duties and functions connected with the same." The work of the Department may consequently be set out under the following heads.
Communications between Government of Saorstát Eireann and the Governments of other countries:—
First under this heading would fall all communications between the Saorstát and foreign Governments on treaties, the appointment of Ministers and Consuls, the reception of Ministers and Consuls, attendance of Saorstát Delegation at International Conferences, and miscellaneous matters. All questions of international law affecting the rights of the Saorstát, whether under treaties or otherwise, are dealt with in the Department. Treaties concluded at International Conferences or at the League of Nations to which the Saorstát is a party are examined. Power to sign treaties and instruments of ratification of treaty are prepared at the Headquarters office.
All League of Nations' documents are examined and material for the Annual Assembly of the League of Nations is prepared in the League Section of the Department.
Passports are issued to Saorstát nationals, and documents required for use in foreign countries are legalised in the Department. The Headquarters office deals with all cases of repatriation of destitute Irish people from foreign countries, and deportations by foreign countries of Irish nationals are also dealt with. The Diplomatic and Consular immunities granted to foreign representatives in the Saorstát, and those granted to Saorstát representatives in foreign countries, are handled in the Headquarters office.
These offices of the Saorstát abroad are the channel of communication between the Saorstát Government and the Government of the country in which they are situate. Apart from their representative capacity, these offices deal with all matters regarding the issue of passports, the granting of visas, the legalisation of documents for use in this country. They generally afford protection to Saorstát nationals. In the United States they render very valuable services to Irish nationals by looking after their interests in estate cases. During the year 1933-34, 800 estate cases have been dealt with between the Headquarters office and the offices in the United States. The services rendered by Saorstát officers in the United States in these cases have resulted in £13,800 being transmitted to residents of Saorstát Eireann. This work in estate cases is only beginning and it is hoped that in the course of a year or two the offices in the United States will have succeeded in extending their activities in estate cases to every State in the United States. Deputies who have come in touch with cases where people in this country have interests in estates in the United States will appreciate the great assistance which has been given to Saorstát citizens both by the Department and the Saorstát offices in the United States. Apart from the activities which I have already mentioned the Saorstát offices abroad have during the last year been engaged in investigating the possibilities of markets for Saorstát agricultural and other products.
Perhaps a somewhat more extended statement might be given on that head. In my statement on External Affairs on the Estimate last year, I pointed out that our trade with countries abroad was considerably limited and that our representatives were busy trying to extend the markets and to redress the adverse balance against us in most countries. I adverted to the difficulty in finding a way into European and other markets on account of the many restrictions imposed by other countries on imports, whether by quotas, currency restrictions, high tariffs or other methods. I said that we were determined that these balances should be redressed and that, if outside countries wanted to get their goods into the Irish Free State in the future to the extent to which they had been getting in the past, they would be expected to take Saorstát goods in return in order to redress the adverse balances of trade. I recognise fully the difficulties of finding markets for our surplus agricultural products in other countries abroad, particularly at the present time when it is the policy of all countries to provide themselves with their requirements, especially in regard to food. It is, however, the desire of the Government to have our exports distributed as widely as possible and, in pursuance of this policy, the offices abroad have, in close co-operation with the headquarters of External Affairs, been concentrating largely on trade work.
It has been possible during the past nine months to make with certain countries informal arrangements by which certain quantities of our agricultural surplus were sold on the Continent at a price advantage over what would have been obtained in the British market, where our products are subject to a discriminatory tariff. Discussions have been proceeding with Belgium, Spain, Germany and France, mainly in relation to facilities for agricultural products, and, except in the case of France, certain what I might call initial results have been achieved. Discussions are continuing in the hope of arriving at some settled agreements. Towards the end of last year the trade side of Headquarters had to be strengthened to deal with this new work. A trade section was set up in the Department in October, 1933, with the object of (a) carrying on the functions previously devolving on the Markets Advisory Committee in testing foreign markets for Saorstát products; (b) keeping under continuous review in co-operation with the offices abroad conditions in foreign markets; and (c), conducting negotiations with foreign countries on trade matters in co-operation with the other Departments concerned.
In addition to the discussions with the four countries which I have mentioned, we have had formal discussions with India and with Poland, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The imports which the Irish Free State takes from all countries are being examined with a view to seeing that compensatory advantages can be obtained in those countries for Saorstát products. One of the objects which the Government had in introducing and passing into law the Control of Imports Act and the Customs Duties (Preferential Rates) Act was to have at hand administrative machinery which would enable the Irish Free State so to divert trade to those countries which show favour to Irish products from those countries which take little from us. Examination is continuously proceeding in the Departments with a view to seeing how far it would be possible so to regulate our imports in order to secure favourable terms in other markets for such products as we cannot consume ourselves. In addition to the two Acts to which I have referred, the Government can also use in bargaining with other countries in appropriate cases the flexibility of our tariff system on imports. As I have said, other countries which hope to find a market for their goods in the Irish Free State must be prepared to take reasonable quantities of our goods in return. The Saorstát makes large purchases of wheat, timber, coal, tea, petrol and oils, fruits, maize, wines, machinery, iron and steel goods, etc., from countries which take very little from us. This state of things has been going on for a number of years and is a position which the Government is trying to adjust in order to restore a more even balance between imports and exports. The League of Nations will be dealt with under a separate Vote.