asked the Minister for Finance if he will state the total sum in respect of all Departments proposed in the Estimates for 1957-58 under the general description of subsidies.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Provision for Subsidies.
The Volume of Estimates contains details of the various objects of expenditure proposed for 1957-58. It is a matter of interpretation which of these come under the general description of subsidies.
There are, as the Minister concedes, many Estimates which include subsidies such as Agriculture, Education and so on, and it is in connection with these that I asked for a reply, a reply which I did not get. Arising out of the reply, for what it is worth, that in view of the Minister's and the Government's dislike for the principle of subsidies—that they are wasteful, conceal the cost of living and the prices of products—may we take it that they propose to abolish or eliminate all the remaining subsidies?
That is an entirely separate question.
Can the Minister give us his interpretation of what is the total amount of subsidies?
About 75 per cent. of the Estimates.