I move:—
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £58,500 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1954, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Industry and Commerce, including certain Services administered by that Office, and for payment of certain Subsidies and sundry Grants-in-Aid.
The first of these two Supplementary Estimates relates to payments to Mianraí Teoranta for prospecting. It is, perhaps, necessary to explain how the need for the Supplementary Estimate arose. In May of last year the Government decided to increase the expenditure authorised upon mineral investigation work at Avoca, County Wicklow, to £289,000. When the Estimate for the Department was being prepared it was understood that the actual expenditure to the end of the financial year—that is to 31st March last—would be £262,500, leaving an amount available for the current financial year in accordance with the Government's decision, of £26,500 and that is the amount which appeared in the Book of Estimates. It was clear, however, that the exploration of theminerals at Avoca would not be brought to a satisfactory stage without further expenditure beyond the original provision, and the Minister for Finance indicated in his Budget statement that additional expenditure was foreseen and that a Supplementary Estimate would be required.
Subsequently, Mianraí Teoranta submitted proposals for the completion of the mineral exploration scheme at Avoca involving the expenditure of an additional £100,000 and based mainly on the utilisation of diamond drilling. The Government decided that the exploration work should proceed but that the scheme of exploration prepared by Mianraí Teoranta should be amended so as to ensure the retention in employment of the maximum number of men with mining experience, as it was appreciated that the availability in the area of men with mining experience would facilitate the commercial development of the minerals later.
The Government's decision was that, if and when expenditure reached the limit of £100,000, a further report on the progress of the investigation should be submitted to it. It may be asked, however, why, if the Government has decided on the recommendation of Mianraí Teoranta that additional expenditure amounting to £100,000 be undertaken on the exploration work at Avoca, this Estimate only provides for a total of £85,000 for that work. The answer is that the Minerals Company Act of 1947—the Act which set this whole investigation in progress —provided for an overriding limit on expenditure on minerals exploration work of £85,000 a year. That Act is due to expire on the 31st March next, in any event, and between this and then, consideration is to be given as to the question of whether its renewal is necessary. It is not clear that it is necessary to continue the Act to enable this work to proceed. That legal position is being examined. As the position stands, however, with the Act in operation, there is a limit to expenditure of £85,000 and if expenditure should run up to the £100,000 of which the Government has approved then a further Supplementary Estimate maybe required during the present financial year.