Is gné gnáthach dár gcóras airgeadais an Bille Prímh-Chiste. Bíonn gá leis chun a údarú go dtabharfaí amach as an bPrímh-Chiste airgead a dheonann Dáil Éireann. Is é cuspóir an Bhille seo ná a údarú go dtabharfaí amach (1) iomlán na suimeanna breise nua seo a deonadh sa bhliain airgeadais seo agus nár húdaruíodh a thabhairt amach fén Acht Prímh-Chiste 1944, ná fén Acht Leithreasa, 1943, agus (2) an tsuim do dheon an Dáil i gcuntas don bhliain airgeadais seo romhainn chun na Seirbhísí Soláthair a choinneáil ar bun fhaid is a bhíonn na Meastacháin á bplé ag an Dáil ina gceann agus ina gceann. Freisin, tugann an Bille comhacht don Aire Airgeadais airgead fháil ar iasacht agus urrúis ar bith is oiriúnach leis a bhunú agus a thabhairt amach chuige sin.
Sé méid an Vóta i gCuntas i mbliana ná £14,888,000, suim atá beagán níos lugha na trian den mhéid iomlán atá uainn le haghaidh na Seirbhísí Soláthair. Mar atá le feiceáil ag na Seanadóirí ó Imleabhar na Meastachán, ta £44,982,644 glan ag teastáil uainn le haghaidh na bliana seo chughainn, agus, mar sin, tá £2,978,677 sa bhreis uainn i gcompáraid leis an soláthar glan a deineadh i rith na bliana seo.
B'é an soláthar glan sin ná £42,003,9667, agus áirmhítear na Meastacháin Bhreise agus Nua sa méid sin. £40,696,211 méid Meastacháin na bliana airgeadais seo nuair a tugadh isteach ar dtúis iad agus, i gcomparáid leis an tsuim sin, tá £4,286,433 sa bhreis uainn i gcóir na bliana seo chughainn.
Siad na príomh-chúiseanna atá leis an méadú seo de £4,250,000 ar chostas na seirbhísí puiblí ná gur gá soláthar de £1,548,958 do Liúntaisí Leanbhaí, agus soláthar breise de £1,394,588 do Sholáthairtí; ar chonganta airgid chun praghas bídh agus tein-abhair a choimeád gan árdú is mó a caithfear an soláthar breise sin do Sholáthairtí. In éineacht leis sin, támuid chun £508,000 a chaitheamh ar oibreacha forbairte ag Faing agus Rinn Eanna, agus tá costas an Airm imithe in áirde £112,803. Cosnóidh an t-árdú bónuis do Stát-Sheirbhísigh, Múinteoirí agus Gárdaí tuairim is £316,200 agus na híocaíochtaí nua do dhaoine áirithe a bhfuil Pinsin Sean-Aoise, na nDall no na mBaintreacha aca, no sochar fé na hAchtanna Árachais Sláinte Náisiúnta, £365,000.
As Senators are aware, Central Fund Bills are a routine feature of our financial system, and are required to authorise the issue out of the Central Fund of grants voted by Dáil Eireann. The present Bill is designed to authorise the issue of (1) the total amount of those Supplementary and Additional Estimates for the present financial year which were not covered by the Central Fund or Appropriation Acts of 1943, and (2) the amount of the Vote on Account to which the Dáil has agreed for the coming financial year, pending detailed consideration of the Estimates for the Supply Services. The Bill also makes provision for borrowing by the Minister for Finance and for the issue by him of such securities as he thinks fit. The provisions of the Bill are stereotyped and the sections are briefly described as follows:—
With regard to Section 1, in the current financial year 34 Supplementary and Additional Estimates, totalling £1,307,756, were presented to the Dáil and passed. Two of those Estimates, totalling £282,368, were covered by the first Appropriation Act of 1943; the remaining Estimates have not yet been covered by legislation, and their total of £1,025,388 is accordingly authorised to be issued from the Central Fund under Section 1 of the present Bill.
In connection with Section 2, I may say that the total of the Estimates for the Supply Services for 1944-45 is £44,982,644, of which £14,888,000 has been voted on account by the Dáil. Section 2 of the Bill authorises the issue from the Central Fund of this latter amount. The issue of the balance will be covered by the Appropriation Bill, which will be introduced later on, when all the Estimates have been considered by the Dáil.
Section 3 empowers the Minister for Finance to borrow up to £15,913,388, which is the sum of the amounts mentioned in Sections 1 and 2, and to issue such securities as he thinks fit for the purpose of such borrowing. It also provides that the Bank of Ireland may advance to the Minister any sum or sums not exceeding the amount he is empowered to borrow; this provision is necessary because, under the Statute of the Irish Parliament dated 1781-82, under which the Bank of Ireland was established, the bank is liable to forfeit any moneys advanced or loaned by it to the Government unless the advance or loan has been specifically authorised by Parliament.
I should like now to take the opportunity of making some general remarks on the Volume of Estimates for 1944-45, copies of which have been circulated to members of the House. The total net sum required for the Supply Services for the coming financial year is £44,982,644, which represents an increase of £2,978,677 on the net provision of £42,003,967 for the current year. The latter sum includes, of course, all the Supplementary and Additional Estimates passed during 1943-44. The original net provision for the current year was £40,696,211 and, as compared with this figure, the 1944-45 provision is up by £4,286,433.
The chief causes of the £4,750,000 increase over the original Estimates for 1943-44 are the provision of more than £1,500,000 for children's allowances, which are to be initiated during the coming year under legislation that was recently before this House, and an increase of nearly £1,400,000 in the Estimate for Supplies, due mainly to greater subsidies designed to prevent increases in the price of food and fuel and thereby to check the rise in the cost of living.
We are also going to spend a great deal of money on airport development. On recent occasions when I have visited this House I have been assured that "Now is the time to spend money on airports"; and I hope, therefore, that the Seanad will be pleased to note the provision in the Vote for Public Works and Buildings of over £500,000 for development works at Foynes and Rinenanna during the coming year.
The additional emergency bonus which the Government has granted to certain civil servants, teachers and Gárdaí will cost an extra £315,000 (£316,200), and the new supplementary payments to certain recipients of old age, blind and widows' and orphans' pensions and National Health Insurance benefit £365,000. Other increases of note are £170,000 for agricultural produce subsidies, due to the higher guaranteed price for milk, £50,000 for food allowances, and £113,000 for the Army, the bill for which, at £8,620,467 stands at a new high figure.
The increases I have mentioned give a total of approximately £4,400,000, composed of £2,400,000 for defence and emergency services, £1,500,000 for children's allowances and £500,000 for airport development. The net increase for all the Supply Services is, as I have told you, less than £4,300,000; it will accordingly be clear that there is a decrease in the amount needed for the other Supply Services, taken as a whole.
I propose now to comment briefly on the principal increases and decreases, other than those to which I have already referred.
Vote 6—Office of the Revenue Commissioners—shows an increase of £31,000, due mainly to extra staff charges.
Vote 7—Old Age Pensions—shows an increase of £20,000, due to an anticipated rise in the number of pensioners.
Vote 10—Public Works and Buildings—is up by £308,540. Sub-head B (New Works, etc.) is up by £270,000, due to the projected development work at Foynes and Rinenanna.
Vote 14—Irish Tourist Board—shows an increase of £6,000, due to expansion in the Board's activities.
Vote 16—Superannuation and Retired Allowances—is up by £19,200, primarily due to an increase in the number of pensioners.
Vote 28—Emergency Scientific Research Bureau—shows a reduction of £13,600. This is accounted for mainly by the transfer of responsibility for the turf charcoal plant at Turraun to the Turf Development Board, grants to which are borne on the Vote for Supplies.
Vote 29—Agriculture—shows a reduction of £110,000 in round figures. The reduction is due mainly to a decrease of £99,745 in the provision for fertiliser subsidies (sub-head G (3)) and to the absence of any provision for subsidies on early potatoes (£24,500 was provided this year).
Vote 33—Gárda Síochána—shows an increase of £70,558. There is an increase of £65,126 on sub-head A (Salaries, Wages and Pay), mainly owing to increased emergency bonus.
Vote 41—Local Government and Public Health—is up by £231,943, due almost entirely to the new supplementary allowances to certain old age pensioners, blind pensioners and beneficiaries under the National Health Insurance Acts (sub-head J (6)).
Vote 44—National Health Insurance —is up by £125,939, just £126,000, due to the new supplementary payments to certain beneficiaries under the Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Acts, for which £135,000 is provided. There is a decrease of £11,000 under sub-head G (2) (Exchequer proportion of sickness, etc., benefits).
Vote 46—Primary Education—shows an increase of £101,254, due entirely to higher emergency bonus, which is to cost £112,000 more.
Vote 47—Secondary Education— shows an increase of £50,845. £20,000 of this addition is non-recurring and is due to the decision to pay incremental salary to secondary teachers at monthly instead of quarterly intervals; £21,000 is due to higher emergency bonus, and the balance mainly to the growth in the numbers of pupils and teachers and to increased provision for the publication of textbooks in Irish.
Vote 48—Technical Instruction— shows an increase of £23,257, which is accounted for mainly by large grants to vocational education committees to meet normal expansion of the committees' activities and the payment of emergency bonus.
Vote 49—Science and Art—shows an increase of £6,264. Staff costs (sub-head A (1)) are up by £1,697, due to higher emergency bonus. Vote 50—Reformatory and Industrial Schools—is up by £8,606, due to an abnormal growth in the number of children being committed.
Vote 52—Lands—shows a decrease of £11,694 A reduction inter alia of £23,052 in the provision required for the improvement of estates, etc. (sub-head I), is offset mainly by an increase of £12,560 in staff costs, of which £8,300 is for increased emergency bonus.
Vote 53—Forestry—shows a decrease of £7,053. Reductions of £20,000 in the amount required for the acquisition of land and of £2,800 in travelling expenses are offset mainly by a fall of £14,700 in Appropriations-in-Aid and an increase of £2,328 in the amount required for timber conversion.
Vote 54—Gaeltacht Services—shows a decrease of £11,200.
Vote 55—Industry and Commerce— shows a reduction of £67,513.
Vote 59—Unemployment Insurance and Unemployment Assistance—shows a reduction of £163,968. Decreases of £90,000 in the provision for unemployment assistance and £91,500 in that for the special register of agricultural and turf workers have been partially offset by an increase in staff charges of £17,072 (£8,500 of it due to increased emergency bonus).
Vote 61—Posts and Telegraphs— shows an increase of £115,890. This increase is due mainly to staff charges, which are up by £100,600.
Vote 64—Army Pensions—is down by £65,407. Fewer pensions are now being awarded under the Military Service Pensions Acts and, accordingly, fewer arrears of pension have to be paid, hence the fall of £81,245 under sub-head I.
Vote 71—Food Allowances—shows an increase of £51,500, attributable partly to an anticipated increase in the number of recipients of food vouchers (estimated at 90,500 for 1944-45) and partly to a rise in the value of the voucher from 2/2½ to 2/5½.
Vote 72—Damage to Property (Neutrality) Compensation—shows a decrease of £66,500. Most outstanding claims arising out of past incidents have been finally disposed of, and expenditure will be concerned mainly with reinstatement awards.
The total of the increases on the various Votes, as compared with the final provision for the current year, amounts to £3,840,010, while the total of the decreases is £861,333. The number of Votes on which there are increases is 45. There are decreases on 25, while three show no change. The Estimates for compensation bounties and alleviation of distress have disappeared. The bill which we must face for the coming year is indeed a heavy one, though it is not yet a record: in 1923-24 the total of all the Estimates came to £45,750,817. Neither is the bill one which, in all the circumstances, can be described as crushing. We are passing through a period as difficult as any in our country's history, and yet we have managed to maintain our essential services without serious impairment, as well as to embark on many new services. It would be unreasonable to expect this to be achieved at a cost at all commensurate with what might obtain in days of peace.
The total of the last Estimates Volume prepared prior to the outbreak of war, that for 1939-40, was £30,248,897. New Estimates introduced since then account this year for more than £6,300,000, and the total of the Army Estimate stands at some £7,000,000 over its average during the years immediately preceding the war. In addition, the Estimate for Local Government and Public Health includes £500,000 in respect of new emergency services, and the Estimate for Agriculture, £500,000 for subsidies on fertilisers. All these new items, which, apart from children's allowances, can be directly attributed to the emergency and the emergency alone, amount to £14,300,000, which practically bridges the gap between the total of the 1939-40 Estimate Volume and that for this year. In the circumstances, and bearing in mind the very substantial rise in the cost of materials reflected through the Estimates for many of our normal services, I think that we have done well, and that I can invite the views of the House with a clear conscience and without fear.