I am glad to hear the Minister admit that; I thought he might say something different. However, that will give us another day and will shorten my contribution very considerably. The sum involved is large and the Minister has referred to the fact that this is due to the eleventh round wage increase and the Six County troubles. This is rather extraordinary because everybody knew the eleventh round wage increase would be at about a certain figure. Perhaps it is all right not to include it in the Budget but I was under the impression that it had been originally included.
So far as the expenditure on the north is concerned, I should like to echo what Deputy Clinton has said. We both come from that part of the country north of the Boyne and news trickles through of what is happening on the other side of the Border. If the information coming through to us is correct, and I am sure the Minister has better sources of information than I have, it appears a very large amount of arms has found its way into Northern Ireland in the past few months. The agitators, both orange and green, seem to be stoking up and it is not just for the 5th November Guy Fawkes celebrations. My impression is that we are in for serious trouble again: political activities in the north seem to be heading towards another flare-up and if certain gentlemen get elected to Stormont it appears there may be a change of leadership there which will almost certainly result in the hardline being reintroduced in retaliation by those who have been oppressed for so long.
Like Deputy Clinton, I think an effort should be made this time to find out what is happening and to be prepared. We cannot claim that we were prepared the last time, although I give full credit to the Department of Defence for the speed with which they got their field hospitals into operation and their preparations to receive refugees. I am a little intrigued by the Minister's reference to the fact that in the weeks immediately following the establishment of field hospitals many casualties were treated in the field hospitals. Perhaps the Minister would give us the exact number because the information I got was that there were not so many casualties—people who had been actually injured in the trouble.
The Gormanston Camp was the clearing house for the refugees and the Minister says their number is now reduced to 54. Perhaps he would give us a breakdown as to the composition of these 54 persons—men, women and children. Have we got a group in Gormanston Camp who are not refugees in the real sense of the word, who are not there because they have no other place to go, but who are just in the camp because it is more comfortable than where they originally lived and who are not so anxious to return to the Six Counties for one reason or another? Perhaps the Minister might also tell us when the last refugee group were taken in from outside. Is it true that a man, his wife and family were taken from a private house in Skerries since Christmas and lodged at Gormanston Camp while they are awaiting the building of a house? If that is so then we have the solution for many who are awaiting the building of houses in that area. If it can be done for someone from the Six Counties it can be done for many people in our own area who require accommodation. The question of how comfortable it was was commented on by me in the House.
I do not think Gormanston Camp was the ideal place to which refugees should have been brought. The Minister may say that it was not possible to find an ideal place and that it was the best that could be found at the time but it is not a comfortable camp. As far as I know, most of it was built during the 1914-18 war. The huts are still there and many of us know that they were not very comfortable 20 or 30 years ago and I am sure they have not become any more comfortable since despite the efforts of the Department to make them habitable for these families. One of the reasons why I objected to their use for the purpose of accommodating the families was that the only toilet and washing facilities were located outside and several hundred yards from where the people were sleeping and living. Because of that I would object to the camp being used as a permanent basis for housing families. There are other barracks in the country which, I believe, are much more comfortable in which these people could have been housed.
Another matter about which I am annoyed is that the soldiers looking after these people and doing everything from gardening to babysitting did not receive any extra consideration. These soldiers had to report in the mornings at about 7.30 and could not leave again until 11 o'clock at night. It would have been only fair if they had been better treated. If extra duties are imposed on them they should have received extra remuneration. However, they would be the last people in the world to complain.
With regard to the question of whether it was a good idea to do what was done at the time, there is one matter which must be considered and I think that this is the Estimate under which it should be considered. I agree entirely with Deputy Clinton when he says in relation to the Six Counties that this House should have been recalled at the time and there should have been a discussion at all-party level. The Taoiseach is a man for whom I have great respect but it was wrong for him to make a statement at the time which he must have known would do two things. First, it would give certain people in the Six Counties the impression that the Irish Army were waiting across the Border to help them and, secondly, it would give the impression to certain impressionable people that they were about to be invaded and that they should attack before the other troops arrived. Perhaps any of us in a similar situation would have done the same thing at the time although I do not think so. It is my belief that the approach was wrong and it is only correct that this view should be expressed here. That statement may have been responsible for a lot of the burning that took place subsequently in Belfast. We all know that it would have been the easiest thing in the world to go into Bogside and give assistance but getting into the Falls Road area would have been a different matter. At the time, perhaps, the approach seemed correct but, looking back, it would appear that a wrong move was made.
The Minister referred to the first line reserve and the FCA having been called up. These men did a good job but there are a couple of matters to which I should like to refer. One is that people called from the first line reserve were taken from their jobs, some of them from one-man jobs. Some were men who had built up small businesses over a number of years and suffered serious losses as a result of having been called up. It is fair to say that if they knew this was likely to happen they would not be in the reserve but, at the same time, some effort should have been made to be a little more selective in endeavouring to call people who could afford to be called at that time.
The other matter concerns arrangements for paying wages to those men. In many cases it was agreed to pay some wages to them but this could not be done unless they produced a certificate from the Department of Finance stating what money had actually been paid to them. They had to go looking for these certificates, whereas they should have been given them at the end of each week or months. This would have made it very much easier for them to get correct payment from their employers.
With regard to the FCA it is true that they helped a lot as did a number of other organisations like, for instance, the Red Cross and Civil Defence. However, as the Minister is probably aware, there is a nark in Gormanston about what actually happened. It appears that when Gormanston was being prepared for the reception of the refugees, the Red Cross people came from Dublin. As everyone knows, Gormanston is in County Meath and there are adequate Red Cross and Civil Defence services in that county to deal with any such emergencies but they felt that they had been slighted when they went along to help. While they were not actually told to go to hell it was made clear to them that the Red Cross people from Dublin were handling the arrangements and that they were not wanted. This matter has been referred to in some of the documents which they have since produced. There should be more co-ordination and if there is a local unit of any of the services that local unit should be employed.
In connection with the FCA and with anybody who is employed on the protection of installations which are of national importance, I should like to know what recompense they are getting and if it is ensured that their service will not interfere with their civilian employment. Also, something must be done to prevent people coming across the Border, as they appear to be doing with impunity, and blowing up certain installations and then going back across the Border. Not one of these people has yet been intercepted. Therefore, something more must be done in this regard. It is the Minister's responsibility to ensure that every effort is made in apprehending these people.
If they come across here then they must put up with the consequences. When the traffic was the other way round all the people who went across the Border in an effort to carry out raids did not come back. As a matter of fact many of them were killed in their efforts and, while I have very little sympathy with people from one side of the Border or the other who carry out raids of this kind, at the same time it does appear as if the people in the north are very lucky or else we are not taking the precautions we should take.
The Minister knows my views on peace-keeping. While it was a great thing to take part in the UN peace-keeping mission in Cyprus, at the same time I think we were caught on the wrong foot because, when we needed extra people, we had to go out into civilian life and bring them in while the cream of our Army was in Cyprus. This country is doing more than its share and, because of the reception given to the suggestion that a peace-keeping force should be introduced in the Six Counties, the Government would be perfectly justified now if they said they had reached the stage at which they had completed their commitment and withdrew the troops they have attached to the UN forces.
The Minister says we get a refund of the money spent. As Deputy Clinton pointed out, no effort seems to have been made to increase the overseas allowance and slightly over a quarter of a million not paid to date means a fairly heavy interest outlay eventually to be carried by the Irish taxpayer. The men out there are doing a very good job, as are those engaged in the Middle East, but this is something which can be taken a little bit too far and, in view of the very small number we have in the Army, we should fill our own defence needs first.
The question of gratuities has been referred to. I have asked numerous questions here and I have given details about the non-payment of gratuities to privates, NCOs and unmarried officers. We have long passed the stage when something should be done about this. Perhaps the present Minister has a better knowledge of the Army than any of his predecessors and perhaps he will make an effort to try to ensure that this matter is attended to without further delay. In addition to that, a man who spends 21 years in the Army qualifies for a pension. If he stays on —if he did not the Army would be pretty small now—all he gets for his extra service is one shilling per year extra pension. This is too ridiculous for words. I have suggested that men who are leaving the Army should be trained for civilian employment. There should be opportunities for training these people for some kind of job. There are apprenticeship schemes for young men to train as tradesmen but there should be some scheme for training the middle aged for civilian employment.
The grants to the first line reserve and the FCA have not been increased for a very long period. The Minister might have a look at these grants. He should also have a look at the system of computing the payments in relation to the continuous ration allowance. To suggest, as was suggested last year by the Minister's predecessor that, because the Army can buy certain types of food in bulk for a lower amount than was paid the previous year, the continuous ration allowance should be reduced by one penny per day is too ridiculous for words. The soldier's wife does not buy meat, or bread, or cheese, or anything else by the half ton. She buys in pounds, the same as everybody else does. Surely it is only reasonable to suggest that the cost-of-living index should be used for the purposes of CRA rather than the cutdated system of bulk buying used at present? This is something that needs a fresh approach. The Minister may be the man to make that approach.
What success has the recruiting drive had? I was amazed to see a half-page advertisement in one of the local papers in which it was suggested that a young man who wanted to get on in the world should join the Army where he would get the magnificent sum of £8 per week. Does the Minister seriously suggest this will attract the best type into the Army? I do not think it will. No man anxious to get on would think of joining the Army for the princely sum of £8 a week and his food. If we want the right type we will have to pay them. It may have been all right to pay soldiers with buttons during the Emergency; the money was not there at the time. But it is not all right to pay buttons today. That advertisement will do nothing to build up the Army. If those who have completed their 21 years service were to opt out of the Army tomorrow we would have a very small Army indeed, and it is small enough at the moment.
With regard to arms, the serving soldier was issued with the Lee Enfield and the FCA with the 300. I notice this was changed and the Lee Enfield is now issued to the FCA. I do not know what the others are getting.
