I move:—
That a sum not exceeding £37,970 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending the 31st day of March, 1949, for salaries and expenses in connection with Gaeltacht Services, including housing grants and the purchase and sale of homespuns.
There is required under this Estimate a sum of £127,970. This amount is less by £3,390 than the aggregate provision last year. This is due to the fact that the Appropriations-in-Aid estimated to be collected are greater by £65,595 while the estimated expenditure is increased only by £62,205. If payments out of Appropriations-in-Aid are taken into account it will be seen that a total expenditure of £512,135 is provided for and that gross receipts amounting to £384,165 are hoped for apart from the possible receipt of an extra £30,000 to be accounted for as Exchequer Extra Receipts.
There is an increase of £932 in the provision under sub-head D (1) due to provision for additional technical staff for the rural industries. The provision under sub-head D (4) for the travelling expenses of the rural industries staff has been increased by £900 as it is anticipated that visits of inspection will be more frequent than last year. There is an increase of £2,250 in the provision under sub-head D (5) for machines and plant. The provision includes over £14,000 in respect of equipment for the spinning mill at Kilcar. The balance relates mainly to machines for the knitting industry.
A total provision of £199,500 is made for manufacturing materials under the sub-heads D (6), D (8), D (10) and D (11) as compared with £151,160 provided for last year. The provision for the year is based on the trading which it is hoped to do during the year in the textile and toy industries. Of the total increase of approximately £48,000, increased purchases of knitting yarns and materials for the toy industry (including materials for the manufacture of dolls heads) account for £21,000. A further £25,000 is accounted for by increased purchases of wool to be spun in the factory at Kilcar where two spinning units have now been installed. The remaining £2,000 represents provision for increased purchases of homespuns should the state of the market justify such expenditure.
There is provided under sub-head D (8) £4,040 for the machinery which would be required for the manufacture of dolls heads for the toy industry. There is a decrease of £4,575 in the provision under sub-head D (12) for the leaden model industry established in Connemara early in 1947. Reserves of manufacturing and packing materials having been built up last year, it is necessary this year to provide only for a normal year's requirements.
There is an increase of approximately £12,000 in the provision under sub-head E (3) for kelp and seaweeds. This increase represents seaweed and sea-rods which it is hoped to purchase this year in excess of the amount purchased last year. It is not anticipated that kelp will be purchased, as efforts to find a market have so far failed. A token provision has however been made in case conditions should alter. The provision of £620 under sub-head E (4) relates only to the carrageen which the Department puts on the market in packages for food purposes. It is left to private firms to purchase the ordinary commercial carrageen from the gatherers and to sell it here and overseas.
There is an increase of £650 in the provision under sub-head F (2) as it is proposed to carry out more advertising this year than was deemed necessary hitherto. There is an increase of £1,220 in the provision under sub-head F (3), General Expenses, due mainly to the increased cost of packing materials and transport.
There is an increase of £15 in the provision under sub-head G, Miscellaneous Services. All the sub-divisions show token provisions as previously with the exception of sub-division (5) which provides for payment towards certain expense in connection with the transport service between Cape Clear Island and Baltimore, County Cork.
There is a decrease of £2,000 in the amount being provided under Sub-head H (3) for grants under the Housing (Gaeltacht) Acts. The amendment of these Acts is under consideration at present with a view to bringing the assistance thereunder into line with the assistance authorised under the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1948. A Supplementary Estimate will have to be introduced to provide for the cost of increased grants consequent on amendment of the Acts.
Gross receipts of about £375,000 are hoped for from the Rural Industries, an increase of £87,000 on the final amount estimated for last year, while receipts of £37,600 are hoped for from the sale of marine products, being an increase of £13,880 on the final figure for last year. It is estimated that £104,500 will be paid out in workers' wages in the coming year, being an increase of £20,000 on the amount paid out last year.
The year just finished has been one of extreme difficulty for the industries carried on by the Department and the amount of the present Estimate is an indication of the uncertainty of present-day markets. While full provision has been made for possible expenditure the amount estimated for receipts from sales has been put down at a conservative figure so as to avoid, if possible, the necessity of approaching the Dáil for further funds pending improvement in the markets and the collection of credit sale accounts. It will be realised, therefore, that this Estimate cannot be taken as representing the financial state of the industries.
Last year our sales of homespuns and knitwear were far below the figures originally estimated for them and through a too optimistic estimate of the rate of progress in the leaden model industry the figures for sales in this case were also far below what was provided for. The purchase of homespuns was continued for a large portion of the year in the hope that the home and foreign markets for them would improve as time went on. Such was not the case, however, with the result that the Department has now large stocks which it will be necessary to get moving before purchases can be resumed. The toy and handwoven tweed industries are the only ones which came up to expectations but, apart from sales of homespuns, the sales of the other industries remained in the aggregate at the level reached in 1946-47.
It is hoped that the coming year will be a better trading one and that it will not be hampered to such an extent as last year by the import restrictions and economic difficulties of countries with which trade was formerly done. The present Estimate has been framed so as to provide for the purchase of materials on a scale necessary to cater for a revival in trade. Expenditure will, however, be related as far as possible to trading prospects.