Before referring to the programme of works proposed for the current financial year I shall give a brief review of the work done in the year ended 31st March last.
The amount provided by the Dáil for employment and emergency schemes in the financial year 1946-47 was £1,250,000, of which £1,028,347 was expended within the financial year. To this expenditure should be added contributions, principally from local authorities, amounting to £203,800, making a gross expenditure of £1,232,147. Subject to possible amendments in detail, the expenditure on the various sub-heads was as follows:— A-E—Salaries, travelling expenses, etc., £41,000. F—Public health works in urban areas, £71,104; housing sites development, £14,924; road works in urban areas, £126,757; amenity schemes in urban areas, £34,851. G—Public health works in rural areas, £78,237; road works in rural areas, £168,836; amenity schemes in rural areas. H — Minor employment schemes, £93,500. I—Bog development schemes (landholders' and other private producers' bogs), £86,200. J—Reconditioning or repair of public roads subject to heavy turf transport, £18,845. K— Farm improvements scheme, £345,000. L—Seed distribution scheme, £32,000. M—Lime distribution scheme, £7,200. N—Rural improvements scheme, £102,432. O—Miscellaneous works, £11,261.
Of the expenditure of £1,232,147 approximately £370,237 was expended during the period 1st April to 30th September, and the balance of £861,910 during the winter months, that is, the time of year when the distress due to unemployment is most acutely felt.
The maximum number of workmen employed at any one time during the year was: Farm Improvements Scheme, 6,528; other schemes, 13,506; total, 20,034. The average number employed each week on all schemes during the period up to September was 6,153, and from October to March, 16,753. Approximately 33 per cent. of those employed were workmen who would otherwise have been entitled to unemployment assistance; but if the figures for farm improvement, bog development and rural improvements schemes, on which the numbers of unemployment assistance recipients engaged are relatively low, be excluded, the proportion of workmen who would have been entitled to unemployment assistance if not engaged on employment schemes was approximately 76 per cent.
The total number of applications received for minor employment schemes during the year was 1,544 and about 5,000 proposals were investigated and reported on, including proposals already partially carried out. During the spring and summer, approximately 500 minor drainage schemes were carried out at a cost of £32,000, principally for the development of bogs used by landholders for the supply of their domestic requirements of turf.
The total number of effective applications received under the rural improvements scheme up to 31st March, 1947, was 5,408, of which 4,294 had at that date been investigated on the ground by inspectors and reported on. Of these, 463 were for various reasons found to be unsuitable; offers of grants were issued in 3,865 cases. The number of such offers accepted in the course of the year under review was 753, for which grants totalling £90,871 were sanctioned towards a total estimated expenditure of £115,264, the balance of £24,393 being contributed by the applicants. The total expenditure incurred during the financial year was approximately £102,432. By the end of the year the number of individual works completed since the inception of the scheme in 1943-44 had reached 1,607, while a further 412 schemes were in progress.
I might remind Deputies that the rural improvements scheme is supplementary to the farm improvements scheme, and enables groups of farmers to carry out various kinds of works for their joint benefit, principally small drainage works, and the construction and repair of accommodation roads to houses, lands and turbary. The usual rate of contribution by the landholders is 25 per cent., but this may be reduced in special cases where the work, in addition to being of benefit to the landholders immediately concerned, also serves members of the outside public.
It will be observed that there was an under-expenditure of approximately £221,600 on the Vote in the last financial year. This was largely due to the quite exceptional weather conditions which prevailed during nearly the whole of the winter months, when works were held up for long periods in nearly all areas.
I should say that the proposals for works, on which the year's programme is based, are not lodged until after the beginning of the financial year, and for that reason it is not always feasible to make a close estimate beforehand of the amount required for each sub-head of the Vote. A considerable degree of latitude is, therefore, required in adjusting the amounts between the sub-heads, as the year progresses. Furthermore, in a Vote designed to cover emergency services it is necessary to keep a certain proportion of the moneys in reserve until a late stage of the financial year in order to provide against contingencies.
During the course of the financial year just completed, two changes of some importance were made in the regulations affecting the recruitment and employment of workers on employment schemes. For the purpose of distributing the benefits of these schemes amongst as many unemployed persons as possible, the rotational system of labour, which involved four or five days' work each week, had been adopted in 1936. While it will be agreed that this object was a desirable one in view of the limited quantity of suitable work available for employment schemes in many areas, on the other hand, the short week was looked upon with disfavour, not only by the workers themselves but by many of the officials in charge, with the result that there was often a loss of efficiency and economy in the execution of employment schemes. For this reason it was decided to change the system, and to give a full week's work to each of the men employed. At the same time, the period of employment for each worker was increased to six weeks in rural areas, and eight to 12 weeks in urban areas. The necessary instructions were issued to effect these changes as from November last.
The practice of giving employment to workers who, whether from long continued unemployment or other cause, were not fully fit, with the intention of rehabilitating them, led in the past to the employment of many unsuitable workers, which resulted in costly and inefficient work. In order to overcome this, the employing authorities have been instructed that in future only fully capable and suitable workers are to be engaged.
Turning now to the programme for the financial year 1947-48, it will be observed that the provision in the Vote remains the same at £1,250,000. In this regard I should mention that the allocation of those sub-heads of the Vote which are provided specifically for the relief of unemployment, amongst the various urban and rural units of area, is broadly in proportion to the number of unemployment assistance recipients in each area, and the programme for the financial year is based on a special census of unemployment assistance recipients taken in the beginning of each year, usually in January when unemployment is at a maximum. The total number of men returned in this census in January, 1947, was approximately 54,000, as compared with 57,000 in January, 1946.
Of the sum of £1,250,000 included in the Estimate for the current year, £869,370 will be spent on the continuation of schemes sanctioned before the 31st March, 1947, leaving a balance of £380,630 available for expenditure on miscellaneous new schemes. To the amount of the Vote must be added contributions from local authorities, and from beneficiaries under the Rural Improvements Scheme, together estimated at £285,000. This gives an aggregate of £1,535,000 available for expenditure within the financial year 1947-48, and to enable this expenditure to be achieved as far as possible within the time limit, it is proposed to authorise schemes to the extent of £826,570 (State grant) in excess of the amount of the Vote. This sum, representing the unexpended balances on works in progress before the 31st March, 1948, together with a proportionate amount for local contributions, will be carried forward to form part of the ensuing year's programme.
In this regard it is desirable to remind the Dáil that a large portion of each year's Vote is allocated to local authorities, and the expenditure of the full amount of the provision depends largely on the acceptance of the grants on the terms offered, and on the prompt submission of schemes.
Subject to the foregoing remarks, the proposed allocation of State Grants for each class of work in the current year's programme is as follows:— Schemes administered by the Department of Local Government:—Public health schemes in urban areas, £30,000; housing site development schemes, £20,000; urban road and amenity schemes, £180,000; public health works in rural areas, £60,000; rural road and amenity schemes, £120,000; reconditioning and repair of public roads subject to heavy turf transport, £50,000, making a total of £460,000. Schemes administered by the Department of Agriculture:—Farm improvements scheme, £350,000; seed distribution scheme, £70,000; lime distribution scheme, £12,000, making a total of £432,000. Schemes administered by the Special Employment Schemes Office:—Minor employment schemes, £100,000; bog development schemes, £90,000; rural improvements scheme, £100,000, making a total of £290,000.
Administration expenses are expected to amount to £48,746, leaving a balance of £19,254 for miscellaneous schemes of an emergency character, or for the relief of any special cases of unemployment and distress which may be brought to attention during the course of the financial year.
As compared with the previous year the only significant changes in the distribution of the Vote as between the various sub-heads are as follows:— F—Urban employment schemes increase, £10,000. G—Rural employment schemes increase, £40,000. These increases are due to the inclusion of a large number of public health schemes which could not be proceeded with during the war emergency. The increase of £50,000 in these two sub-heads is found by a corresponding decrease in sub-head K—Farm improvements scheme.
Sub-head N — Rural improvements scheme—an increase of £10,000. This useful scheme shows a tendency to expansion, and it is expected that a larger number of applications will have to be dealt with during this financial year.