Vol. 110 No. 2
I move:—
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £30,000 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending 31st March, 1948, for the increase of the Grant to Local Authorities in Relief of Rates on Agricultural Land (No. 35 of 1925; No. 28 of 1931; No. 23 of 1939, and No. 36 of 1946).
Expenditure on the employment allowance portion of the Agricultural Grant has turned out to be substantially higher than was anticipated when the Estimate was prepared.
Despite what the Government used to say when they were in opposition.
The additional £30,000 will bring the Estimate up to a total of £3,180,000. Of course, the system of allocation will be determined by circumstances.
I should like to ask the Minister if he would consider the desirability of changing the entire system under which these grants are divided. I think that——
The Deputy appears to be advocating legislation on an Estimate.
I should like to point out——
The Deputy may not advocate legislation on an Estimate.
I should like to point out that this annual grant puts the entire farming community into a false position. It puts them in the position of being mendicants, depending on the central Government for relief in the matter of rates, whereas the real position is that, owing to the unfair system of rating, the farming community are paying far more than they should be legally entitled to pay. The figures of national income show that the farming community derive about 35 per cent. of the total national income, whereas the rateable valuation of agricultural properties is 80 per cent. of the total rateable valuation of the property of the State. That injustice has been perpetrated for the past 25 years since this State was established and I hope it is not going to continue. That is why I am asking on this Estimate that the whole matter should be reviewed——
The Deputy is asking, as he has been told, for legislation. The method of allocation is fixed by legislation and the Deputy may not advocate legislation on an Estimate.
I have no intention of asking for legislation.
I do not see how the Deputy's purpose can be achieved then.
At least I can show the Minister that the present system is unjust. I know the Minister is a fairminded man and I should like to impress upon him that the present system is unjust and that the whole matter should be reviewed.
The money is given without any statement as to mendicancy.
