I move:—
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £10 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending 31st March, 1951, for Salaries and Expenses in connection with Gaeltacht Services, including Housing Grants and the purchase and sale of Homespuns.
This Supplementary Estimate for £10 is intended to allow of the utilisation for the activities of the Gaeltacht services division of the Department of Lands of the £35,000 estimated Appropriations-in-Aid, treated in the original Estimate as Exchequer extra receipts, and additional Appropriations-in-Aid which it is estimated will be received.
The additional receipts thus brought into account will be utilised to meet additional estimated expenditure (1) under sub-head D (6), which provides for the purchase of yarns and other manufacturing materials mainly for the use of the knitwear industry; (2) under sub-head D (8), which provides for the purchase of materials and machinery and the meeting of other expenditure in connection with the toy industry; and (3) under sub-head D (9), which provides, principally, for the purchase of wool for use in the spinning industry.
Under each of these sub-heads the additional expenditure is necessitated by the increased cost of materials since the original Estimate was prepared and by a decision to start the building up of reserves of supp lies against a possible emergency.
Of the total estimated additional expenditure of approximately £65,000, approximately £10,000 is offset by savings on other sub-heads, leaving a balance of something under £55,000 to be met out of the additional amount now shown as Appropriations-in-Aid.
The sales of the products of the rural industries of the Department have shown some degree of recovery during the year. As a result, the receipts have been sufficient to cover the full amount credited as Exchequer extra receipts in the original Estimate and to provide, apart from that amount, over £28,000 towards meeting additional expenditure out of Appropriations-in-Aid and the net additional expenditure under the debit sub-heads of the Estimate.
Provision has had to be made for a deficiency of over £7,000 in the receipts from sales of marine products. This deficiency is due mainly to the fact that the purchase of sea-rods this season has been greatly retarded because of weather conditions, which did not allow the sea-rods to be dried sufficiently for earlier purchase and disposal. Expenditure which normally would have fallen on this year's Vote will fall to be met out of next year's Vote with consequential effect on receipts.
It is estimated that an additional £3,000 will be received from the disposal of materials no longer required for the use of the industries.
In order to provide for the additional expenditure contemplated, it is necessary to ask the Dáil for £10 only as a token Vote.