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IMEACHTA AN CHOISTE.THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE.Déardaoin, 11 Iúil, 1963.Thursday, 11th July, 1963.1. The Committee met at 12 noon. 2. Members Present. The following members were present:— Deputy Jones (in the Chair), Deputies Booth, Patrick J. Burke, Carter, Clinton, Cunningham, Patrick Hogan (South Tipperary), Kenny, Lalor and Treacy. 3. The Committee deliberated. 4. Report of Committee. The Chairman brought forward a Draft Report for consideration. (i) Paragraphs 1 to 4, inclusive, agreed to. (ii) Paragraph 5. Paragraph read as follows: “External Affairs. 5. The Committee is pleased to note that expenditure on official entertainment is carefully watched and it does not dissent from the Minister’s views as to the occasions for such entertainment. It appears that in the official accounts of other countries the occasions on which entertainment was provided are shown in broad detail giving the cost in each case. The Committee is prepared to concede that there might be occasions when the publication of details could cause embarrassment in individual cases but it would like that this question should be further examined.” Amendment proposed (Deputy Carter): “In lines 2 and 3, to delete ‘does not dissent from’ and insert ‘agrees with’.” Amendment agreed to. Paragraph, as amended, agreed to. (iii) Paragraphs 6 to 11, inclusive, agreed to. (iv) Paragraph 12. Paragraph read as follows: “Public Works and Buildings. 12. Before the Committee could judge the merits of the contract procedure it would require more detail of the scheme of works. It is assumed that there was some general plan which included any necessary new buildings and an estimate of their cost. Information regarding the nature and extent of the supervision of the works and the checking of the accounts would also require to be amplified. The Committee will return to the subject of this project in its next report.” Amendment proposed (Deputy Cunningham): “In lines 8 and 9 to delete all words after ’amplified’.” Amendment agreed to. Paragraph, as amended, agreed to. (v) Paragraphs 13, 14 and 15 agreed to. (vi) Paragraph 16. Paragraph read as follows: “Office of the Revenue Commissioners. 16. Reference was made in the reports on the accounts for 1957-58 and 1958-59 to the risk of an erroneous impression of the magnitude of arrears of taxes being created by the statement of outstanding assessments published in the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. The Committee returned to this subject during the year under review and while some improvement in the presentation of this statement has been made as a result of its suggestions, it feels there is still room for misunderstanding. The Committee is very pleased with the progress made in the collection of arrears and for this reason it would like the Revenue Commissioners in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General to examine the possibility of improving the form of the statement in question.” Amendment proposed (Deputy Booth): “To add to the paragraph the following words: ‘in order to differentiate between provisional assessments which are subject to reduction and final assessments’.” Amendment agreed to. Paragraph, as amended, agreed to. (vi) Paragraph 17. Paragraph read as follows: “Garda Síochána. 17. The Comptroller and Auditor General drew attention to payments made, under the provisions of the Garda Síochána Allowances Order, 1958, of subsistence allowances to members of the Force for periods they appeared to have spent in their homes. Although such payments are permissible under the Order, he considered them to be contrary to the general intention that subsistence allowance should cover only extra expenses necessarily incurred on the public service. In reply to inquiries regarding a payment of £67 10s. 0d. the Accounting Officer stated that he agreed with the Comptroller and Auditor General’s contention, and that he proposed to give consideration to an appropriate amendment of the Allowances Order with a view to preventing such payments in future; meantime claims in similar circumstances would be resisted. In evidence, however, the Accounting Officer stated that he had modified his views and at this stage he would prefer to handle the matter administratively because he thought that any amendment of the Allowances Order would fall to be dealt with under the Garda Síochána Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme which is a long drawn out, cumbersome and expensive procedure. He said that the number of cases of the kind in question were few and he felt that the matter could be adjusted without changing the Order. He admitted that it would be contrary to the law to resist a claim but he felt that they could be avoided by ensuring that the circumstances would not arise in future. The Committee has given this matter careful consideration and it has come to the conclusion that it would not be proper to allow a defect to continue in the provisions of a financial regulation. It accordingly recommends that appropriate amendment of the Order be given further consideration.” Amendment proposed (Deputy Booth): “In lines 29 and 30, to delete all words after ‘that’ and substitute ‘the Order be amended’.” Amendment agreed to. Paragraph, as amended, agreed to. (vii) Paragraphs 18, 19 and 20 agreed to. (viii) Paragraph 21. Paragraph read as follows: “Lands. 21. Arising out of the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the question of the relative merits of building Land Commission houses and outoffices under contract or by direct labour was considered by the Committee. A tender received from a building contractor in April 1959, for the erection of six dwelling houses and twelve outoffices for the sum of £9,120 was not accepted because the Land Commission considered that the tenderer would not be able to undertake the job immediately. Other tenders were also found to be unacceptable for various reasons. It appeared that builders found this type of work unattractive compared with that offered by private enterprise. It decided to carry out the project by direct labour and the work was completed in February 1962, at a cost of £11,971. It was stated in evidence that there had been a number of difficulties in getting the work started and that it commenced in December, 1959 and was effectively completed in May, 1961. The work had to be carried out in a locality about 8 miles from Dublin and the unit cost of approximately £2,000 was considered by the Land Commission as quite reasonable. The Accounting Officer stated that building by direct labour has advantages particularly when completion of the work can be arranged to permit migrants or tenants to obtain possession of their holdings at the most suitable time for the commencement of farming operations. But considerable difficulty is experienced in the recruitment, in competition with contractors, of a competent labour force; and large scale direct labour projects necessitate bulk buying of materials and a central stores organisation. Because of the present boom in the building industry, the Committee appreciates the difficulties of the Land Commission in getting work done by contract. It is pleased to note, from a statement recently supplied by the Accounting Officer, that the direct labour building techniques have been under examination by a firm of consultants, with a view to increasing productivity, through incentive bonus schemes, etc. The outcome of this examination will be awaited with interest.” Amendment proposed (Deputy Kenny): “In line 12, to delete ‘It’ and substitute ‘The Land Commission then’.” Amendment agreed to. Amendment proposed (Deputy Patrick J. Burke): “In lines 34 and 35 to delete all words after ‘schemes, etc.’ and substitute: ‘Information regarding this examination will be awaited with interest’.” Amendment agreed to. Paragraph, as amended, agreed to. (ix) Paragraph 22 agreed to. (x) Paragraph 23. Paragraph read as follows: “Forestry. 23. A note in the Appropriation Account indicates that sums amounting to £419 were written off in respect of damage caused to the Department’s machines arising from interference by unauthorised persons during non-working hours. Included is an item of £414 for extensive damage to a crawler tractor which had been started by three boys, all under 14 years, and allowed to travel out of control up the face of a sand quarry. The youths were brought to justice but the Department was advised that a malicious injuries claim would not succeed. Questioned by the Committee whether such machines could be immobilised when unattended outside working hours, the Accounting Officer stated that he had been informed that there was no way of completely immobilising them, but that he would have the possibilities further examined. Apart from the damage to the machines, the Committee is perturbed at the obvious danger of injury to persons and it would appreciate if all possible steps are taken to minimise this risk.” Amendment proposed (Deputy Booth): “In line 16, to delete ‘minimise’ and substitute ‘eliminate.” Amendment agreed to. Paragraph, as amended, agreed to. (xi) Paragraphs 24 to 39, inclusive, agreed to. Draft Report, as amended, agreed to. Ordered: To report to the Dáil accordingly. 5. Conclusion of Business. The Committee concluded its business at 1 p.m. |
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