This is an extraordinary amendment introduced in a very extraordinary way, and if I may say so, at a rather extraordinary time. We had the Parliamentary Secretary warning us the other day, when certain small increases were asked for employees of local authorities, that, in view of the fact that there were likely to be very large increases in rates during the coming year, local authorities had to be very careful in regard to what they did. They could not, for instance, dream of raising the wages for road workers, say in South Tipperary, by more than 5/- over the pre-war level. On top of that warning, we have grandiose schemes suggested with regard to road-making in one way or another and we have the expenditure contemplated by the Public Health Bill. These are the things that are foreshadowed just at the moment. When this Bill was ordered to be printed and circulated in October, 1945, Section 23 considered that circumstances might arise in which it might appear to a local authority having struck a rate, that it was really insufficient to meet the expenditure of the coming year and the section, as then drafted, gave powers to the local authority to strike a supplementary rate. Now we find in an amendment handed to us in the last few days a complete change of attitude as a result of which the Minister takes power finally and completely to control local authorities.
We have under amendment 31 a really a proposal completely to wipe out local government because the amendment provides that "if, at any time after the rate in the pound of the rates for a local financial year has been determined by a rating authority, it appears to the Minister that such rate at such rate in the pound is likely to be insufficient to meet the part defrayable out of rates of the expenses to be incurred by the rating authority in that financial year in, (a) maintaining at a reasonable standard the public services for the maintenance of which the rating authority is responsible, and (b) paying to any other body any sums which the rating authority is bound to supply to that body, the Minister, after holding a local inquiry into the sufficiency of such rate," may require the rating authority to make an adequate rate. Then within fourteen days after the date of the receipt by the secretary or clerk of a rating authority of notification that a requirement has been made under sub-section (1), the Minister can wipe out the local body and his commissioner can proceed to mark any particular rate that the Minister dictates.
This comes on top of a situation in which, apart from any further addition to the burdens of the ratepayers, very substantial additions have already been made both between 1932 and 1939 and since the war began. For instance, the total amount collected in rates in the year ended March, 1932, was £4,677,000. By March, 1939, that had risen to £6,270,000 and by 1942, the last year for which figures have been issued in the Department's publications, the total amount of rates collected in the country was £7,500,000, an increase of nearly £3,000,000 over 1932. When we consider the 1932 level and examine how much money has been taken out of the ratepayers' pockets over the 1932 level for the first seven years of the Government's administration up to March, 1939 before the war situation created any difficulties here, we find that £13,317,000 were paid by the ratepayers of this country more than they would have had to pay if the 1932 level had been maintained. The total amount of rates taken from the people had gone up, on an average over six years, by 29 per cent. For the three years from March, 1939 to March, 1942, the last three years for which we have information, there was an additional £6,700,000 taken from the ratepayers, over the 1932 level. I said that the rates collected in 1942 were nearly £3,000,000 more than in the year 1932. Since the Government came into office and up to March of last year about £28,800,000 more were collected in rates alone than if the rates had been maintained at the 1932 level. When we turn to taxation, we find that the same thing has gone on.