Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 27 Jun 1935

Vol. 57 No. 8

Vote 17.—Rates on Government Property.

Mr. MacEntee

I move:—

Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £59,600 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, 1936, chun Rátaí agus Síntiúisí in ionad Rátaí, etc., i dtaobh Maoine Rialtais.

That a sum not exceeding £59,600 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, 1936, for Rates and Contributions in lieu of Rates, etc., in respect of Government Property.

General Mulcahy

We have been pointing out on the Rates on Agricultural Land (Relief) Bill, that the ratepayers in the county council areas last year had to provide, under the assessments alone, £560,000 more than they had to provide three years ago, before the present Government came into office; that is, the ordinary ratepayers throughout the country had to provide more than half a million pounds out of their pockets. We had the Government proposing under the present Budgetary arrangements an increase in the valuation of property in urban districts by 25 per cent., in order that the Government may get more taxation based on that property. This Estimate discloses that the Government is able to wangle its own business so well that it is going to pay £5,680 less in respect of contributions to the rates for the coming year than it did last year. There is no person in this country who would not be glad to know how the Government manages to do that. It does seem, in the first place, very strange on the part of the Government that it is able to so wangle its own rates bill that it can save £5,680 in this particular year. It seems an astounding thing that the Minister should get up and put this Estimate before the House without saying a single thing about it. Would the Minister say what local bodies he is "sticking" this year for £5,680 which they expected to get from him?

Mr. Dockrell

I should like to ask the Minister a couple of questions on this Vote. I notice that the Oireachtas contribution for 1935-36 is down to £1,085 as compared with £1,220 for 1934-35. Of course I am aware that the rates are down somewhat in the city, but that would seem to indicate that they had got a reduction in the valuation. I should like to know if there is a reduction in the valuation of buildings.

General Mulcahy

And if so, why?

Mr. Dockrell

That will certainly arise. Another matter I notice is that there is nothing set out for Beggar's Bush Barracks, where the central marketing depôt has its stores. Are no rates paid on that? Looking at the Gaeltacht Services, I cannot see anything for rates in that either. I would like to put those two points to the Minister.

Mr. Esmonde

I think the Minister has gone in for a little bit of deception in order to hide from the public the regrettable fact that we are paying for two Viceregal establishments. The rates on the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park come to about £800. They were mentioned in previous Estimates, but they are not mentioned this year. The Minister doubted the fact that rates were paid on that establishment, but it is a fact that £800 are paid by the taxpayers for the upkeep of a derelict palace. There is there a vast estate falling to pieces, apparently. The roof is falling in and nothing is being done for it.

General Mulcahy

They are spending £10,000 on it this year, putting additions to it.

Mr. Esmonde

But I expect that, too, will be carefully hidden from the public.

Mr. MacEntee

I do not know where Deputy Mulcahy got the happy inspiration which caused him to speak on this Vote. He was Minister for Local Government at one time and he knows exactly how this grant is determined. The amount of it is determined primarily by the rates, the amount in the £ which is levied for rates. The reduction in the Vote this year is not due to the fact that we are withholding anything from any of those hard-pressed local authorities for whom the Deputy is so solicitous. It is mainly due to the fact that most of the Government property is located in Dublin and there has been, under this Administration, a substantial decrease in the Dublin rate and, accordingly, we get the benefit, the advantage, of that. That explains the point which Deputy Dockrell raised in regard to the Oireachtas building.

On the other question of the two palaces to which Deputy Esmonde refers, I am rather surprised to learn that the roof is falling off one of these palaces. It is, in fact, at the present moment being converted into a museum. Presumably, the Deputy's portrait may, at some time, occupy a high position there. It is, at any rate, being converted into a museum and, therefore, it is not true to say that we are paying rates on a derelict building.

Mr. Dockrell

The Minister did not answer my question about Beggar's Bush barracks.

Mr. MacEntee

If the Deputy will look at Part III of the Estimate, which gives details, he will notice the buildings are not set out there individually and that the total Estimate is apportioned among the Departments of State under whose control the particular buildings are. Therefore, whatever rates are payable on any property under the control of the Minister for Lands—and that, of course, would include the Gaeltacht Depot—they would be included there. Whether the place is being used for the purpose of the Gaeltacht section of the Department, or for some other service for which the Gaeltacht Department is responsible, it would be included under Item 10 in the figure £4,490.

Vote put and agreed to.