asked the Minister for Finance if he will state the amount of money spent on special employment schemes during the years 1947 and 1948 respectively.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Special Employment Schemes.
Particulars of the expenditure from the Employment and Emergency Schemes Vote for the calendar years 1947 and 1948 are not available. The expenditure, however, for the financial year 1947-48 was £1,233,875, while that for the financial year ending 31st March, 1949, is estimated at £1,250,000.
The foregoing figures include administrative expenses and expenditure on various services related to the emergency, such as bog development schemes to encourage the production of turf by landholders and others. These emergency schemes, while not primarily intended for the relief of unemployment, do in fact give a considerable amount of employment in rural areas.