I move:—
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £20,000 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending 31st March, 1952, for the Defence Forces (including certain Grants-in-Aid) under the Defence Forces (Temporary Provisions) Acts, and for certain administrative Expenses in connection therewith; for certain Expenses under the Offences against the State Acts, 1939 and 1940 (No. 13 of 1939 and No. 2 of 1940) and the Air-raid Precautions Acts, 1939 and 1946 (No. 21 of 1939 and No. 28 of 1946); for Expenses in connection with the issue of Medals, etc.; for Expenses of the Bureau of Military History; and for a Grant-in-Aid of the Irish Red Cross Society (No. 32 of 1938).
The purpose of this Supplementary Estimate is to provide an additional Grant-in-Aid of £20,000 during the current financial year for the Irish Red Cross Society, the intention being that this grant should be paid at once and should be expended by the society in the provision of relief for the victims of the recent disastrous floods in Northern Italy. I hardly think that it is necessary for me to say a great deal in justification of the proposal. Nobody can fail to have been moved by the harrowing accounts of these appalling floods, which have inundated hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land and left more than 250,000 people homeless. The extent to which the disaster has touched the hearts of the Irish people is evidenced by their response to the appeal of His Holiness the Pope and also to those of the Irish Red Cross Society. It has seemed to the Government that it is only right and that it would be in accordance with the wishes of the Dáil and of the country that, in addition to what has been done by the people themselves, a State grant should also be made available for relief purposes.
The sum now proposed, will. I am sure, be gladly voted. Taken in conjunction with what has already been subscribed in response to the appeals I have mentioned, it will, we hope, be-accepted by the Italian Government and people as an indication of Ireland's great sympathy with them in the affliction to which they have been subjected. It is proposed that the grant should be made to the Irish Red Cross Society for the reason that, by the Red Cross Act, 1938, the society was established for purposes which include the improvement of health, the prevention of disease and the mitigation of suffering throughout the world. By custom, grants to the society are borne on my Department's Vote.
Before any question of a grant had arisen, and indeed before any appeal to the people had been made, the society had already sent relief to the full extent of its limited resources. As a result of the extensive subscriptions and last Sunday's national collection, together with this grant-in-aid, it will now be able to send much larger quantities of urgently needed clothing, blankets, foodstuffs and medical supplies. I am assured by the society that administrative expenses are being kept at the lowest possible figure and that all money received is being utilised to the fullest extent for the purchase of supplies.
I think it is only right that I should take this opportunity, on behalf of the Government, of thanking the society for its efforts and also of thanking all who, in response to the various appeals, subscribed money, clothing and other supplies; and all who assisted in the collections and in the transport of relief supplies.
I accordingly ask the Dáil to vote this sum of £20,000. In doing so, may I express this country's hope for Italy's speedy recovery from the effects of this very great disaster?
