I move:—
That a Supplementary* sum not exceeding £117,600 be granted to defray the Charges which will come in the course of payment during the year ending 31st day of March, 1948, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Stationery Office; for Stationery, Printing, Paper, Binding and Printed Books for the Public Service; and for sundry Miscellaneous Services, including Reports of Oireachtas Debates.
The gross supplementary sum now required is £118,600 but this amount is reduced by £1,000 due to an anticipated increase on the original Estimate of receipts as Appropriations-in-Aid.
During the current year the Stationery Office must meet the expense of producing a further general issue of ration books as well as the issue of fuel ration books and forms for the compilation of the Register of Population, 1947, by the Department of Industry and Commerce. In addition, long-standing requirements which have remained unfilled at administrative inconvenience require the purchase of many items of office equipment which were not procurable since the commencement of the period of the emergency but are now again available.
At the same time the rates of charges to the Stationery Office for the goods and services provided for the public service very considerably exceed anticipations. Provision made for increases in the prices paid for printing to correspond with increases in wages in the printing industry is inadequate and the exceptional rise in prices for most classes of goods in the past year has upset all previous calculations. The financial consequences of these increases in the rates of charges are all the greater because of the expansion in the volume of printing required.
*A sum of £203,780 has already been granted by means of the Appropriation Act, 1947.
This expansion in the volume of printing has necessitated increased purchases of papers, which have advanced considerably in price since the original grant was sought.
The prices of books, publications and maps have also increased and Departmental requirements entail wider purchases than was foreseen.
A. Salaries, Wages and Allowances (original, £43,183; supplementary, £600) —The extra provision is required to meet expenditure on overtime in (1) distribution to Garda stations of the forms for the Register of Population, 1947, (2) the checking of ration books and (3) the checking of the claims for the retrospective increases in charges for printing mentioned in connection with other subheads.
F (1) Printing, Paper and Binding for the Houses of the Oireachtas (original, £9,500; supplementary, £1,500)—Additional provision required to meet (1) balances of retrospective increases in charges for printing because of corresponding increases in wages in the printing trade and (2) increased charges, under a new contract, for current work.
F (2) Oireachtas Debates (original £9,800; supplementary, £1,200)—The additional provision is necessary to meet retrospective increases in charges for printing corresponding with increases in wages in the printing trade, and the outlay on increased current work.
F (4) Printing, etc., for Registration Officers under Electoral and Juries Acts (original, £30,000; supplementary, £2,000)—The provision made for increases in charges because of increases in wages is inadequate and additional provision is accordingly necessary.
G Grants to Periodicals Published in Irish and Newspapers Publishing Current News in Irish (original, £3,000; supplementary, £250)—Because of increases in the charges which promoters pay for printing it has been necessary to increase the grants in respect of certain periodicals and provision is also required to meet an increased grant in respect of one periodical (Tír-na-nOg, published in conjunction with Our Boys by the Irish Christian Brothers) which has been increased to an eight-page edition (monthly).
H Printing (original, £45,000, supplementary, £47,000)—The extra provision is necessitated by (1) the costs of producing general ration books, fuel ration books and the forms for the compilation of the Census of Population, 1947, and (2) an excess over anticipations in the volume of current routine work, the rates of charges under new contracts and the amounts of retrospective increases in printing charges corresponding with increases in wages in the printing industry.
I Paper (original, £75,000; supplementary, £53,500)—Prices of paper have risen very considerably during the current year and at the same time requirements have increased because of the extra printing mentioned in the note in connection with sub-head H.
J Miscellaneous Office Supplies (original, £17,500; supplementary, £9,250)—The prices of office equipment have risen, generally, and many articles not available during the period of the emergency can now be procured to meet long-standing requirements which have remained unfilled at administrative inconvenience.
K Binding (original, £11,000; supplementary, £2,300)—The additional provision sought to defray retrospective increases in charges corresponding with increases in wages in the industry.
L Books and Maps (original, £5,000; supplementary, £1,000)—The prices of books and publications have advanced and Departmental requirements have increased.
M Appropriations-in-Aid (original, £52,528; supplementary, £1,000)—It is now anticipated that the receipts from advertisements in Official Publications will exceed the sum originally estimated.
