I move:—
DE BHRI go gcaithfidh tamal aimsire imeacht sara dtiocfaidh an reachtúchán san i bhfeidhm a chaithfidh Oireachtas Shaorstáit Eireann dhéanamh chun feidhm do thabhairt do chó-rún na Dála so den 22adh lá de Mheadhon Fhoghmhair, 1922, ach gurb é mian na Dála so go n-éisteofaí agus go socrófaí leis an ndeabha is oiriúnach maidir le ceartmhiosúr cabhrach don lucht fuiligthe na héilithe ar chúiteamh i dtaobh damáiste no lot maoine ón 11adh lá d'Iúl, 1921, i leith. |
“THAT INASMUCH AS some time must elapse before the coming into operation of the legislation which must be passed by the Oireachtas of Saorstát Eireann for giving effect to the resolution of this Dáil of the 22nd day of September, 1922, but it is the desire of this Dáil that the claims for compensation in respect of damage to, or destruction of, property inflicted since the 11th day of July, 1921, should be heard and determined with such expedition as is compatible with a just measure of relief to the sufferers. |
Sé oipineon na Dála so, go dtí go ndéanfar an reachtúchán san mar roimhráite, gur cóir gach céim tosaigh do dhéanfadh an t-Aire Airgid le riachtanas no le ceart (i leith is go mbeadh an reachtúchán roimh-ráite i bhfeidhm cheana) d'fhonn na héilithe roimh ráite d'éisteacht agus do shocrú go tapaidh, gur cóir gach céim tosaigh mar sin do dhéanamh gan mhoill chó fada agus is féidir é agus go mór-mhór, gur cóir go ndéanfaí gach socrú ceart chun na héilithe roimh-ráite d'fháil, do roint agus do chlárú sna fuirmeacha san agus do réir an cheistiúcháin a bhaineas leo, a leagfhaidh an t-Aire Airgid amach, agus gur cóir go socrófaí gach éileamh dá shórt fé údarás an Aire Airgid, agus pé comhairle dhleathach agus eolgach is oiriúnach leis do bheith aige, agus go mbaileoidh sé an t-eolas agus an fhínéacht a bhaineann leo chun go ndéanfar na héilithe roimhráite d'éisteacht agus breith do thabhairt ortha (nuair is féidir tosnú air sin go dleathach) leis an ndeabha is mó is féidir; agus órduítear leis an gcó-rún so don Aireacht an méid sin uile do dhéanamh. |
THIS DAIL is of opinion, and hereby instructs the Ministry, that, pending such legislation as aforesaid, all such preliminary steps as would necessarily or properly be taken by the Minister for Finance (were such legislation as aforesaid already in operation) with a view to a speedy hearing and determination of the said claims, should so far as possible be taken without delay, and particularly that all proper arrangements be made for receiving, classifying, and registering the said claims in such forms and subject to such relevant inquiries as may be prescribed by the Minister for Finance, and that all such claims shall be examined under the authority of the Minister for Finance with such legal and expert advice as he may think expedient and information and evidence relevant thereto collected by him, so that the hearing and adjudication of the said claims (when the same may be lawfully commenced) shall be prosecuted with the utmost expedition.” |
That is the form of the Resolution I propose. I would remind the Dáil that on the 22nd September a Resolution was passed approving of the principle that while a proportion of the compensation which will be recoverable in respect of damage to or destruction of property inflicted since the 11th day of July, 1921, being the date of the Truce between the Forces of Great Britain and Ireland, should under approved conditions be borne as a National liability, nevertheless a date should be determined as from which such liability should remain wholly a burden of the local authorities now primarily responsible for the same. In order that the general arrangements contemplated by this Resolution, under which compensation will be given in cases of post-Truce damage to or destruction of property, may be carried into effect, it will be necessary for the Oireachtas of Saorstát Eireann to pass legislation in due course. That is a point that must be borne in mind, that the present law is insufficient to deal with such cases. It is, however, I believe, agreed on all sides that it would be very undesirable to do nothing, pending such legislation, in the way of making the necessary advanced preparations for having awards speedily determined and discharged when the proper time arrives. In a matter such as this the mere work of ascertaining the particulars of claims and examining them with reference to the conditions which must govern eventual awards is extremely laborious, and there is a great deal to be gained by proceeding at once with the completion of this preliminary task in a manner which will not prejudice final awards. Under the present Resolution it is proposed immediately to make a prescribed form of claim available on application to offices of the County Councils, on which all persons claiming compensation in respect of post-Truce property damage will be required to set forth all relevant particulars under such heads as will facilitate speedy examination when the matter comes before the County Court. These forms should be available in a few days. In view of the heavy financial liability which it is proposed that the State should undertake in this matter it is intended that on the hearing of claims a special solicitor for each county should be entitled to appear on behalf of the Minister for Finance. All claims received on the prescribed form will be made immediately available to this solicitor and such expert staff as it may be necessary to place at his disposal, so that they may have an opportunity of making adequate investigation into all the facts before the matters come into Court. Claims on the prescribed form will also be directed to be sent to local authorities and to County Councils so that their solicitors and officers may also have full opportunity of investigation. The solicitors acting for the Government will, it is hoped and believed, act throughout with the fullest harmony and co-operation with the officers of local bodies and in such a manner as to secure that the best possible local information is always available for checking claims. It is the view of the Government that by proceeding in this manner we are making the most effective arrangement that is reasonably practicable for expediting the settlement of this important problem and relieving the natural anxiety of sufferers throughout the country. There are two main sides to this question—namely, as regards the machinery to be employed for assessing compensation, and as regards the basis on which the assessment should be made. I am not at present dealing with the question of the basis, but I may say that the several points arising in this connection have been very fully examined, and that preparations in this respect are well advanced for embodying our proposals in the legislation to which I have referred. The question of machinery is practically settled by the present Resolution, taken in conjunction with the fact that the claims will be heard by County Courts, we expect, early in January. The fact that in the County Courts we shall have a large number of tribunals working simultaneously on uniform lines in this matter should secure that the compensation is made available much more rapidly than if we were to set up a special Commission or tribunal for the purpose. The spreading of the preliminary work of investigation among bodies of officers working in the several counties is an important factor. In the case of the Shaw Commission it has been found by experience that the enormous volume of claims has itself constituted a big problem in the merely mechanical sense, quite apart from the labour of determining awards. It is largely on this account that it is only now, after several months' work, that the awards of this Commission have begun to come in in any considerable number. It will be remembered that when making a financial statement in the Dáil on the 6th of last month I indicated that with improved procedure the number of awards of the Commission was on the point of expanding rapidly. As an indication of this I am now glad to be able to inform the Dáil that within the last few days we have received from the Commission notification of a batch of 113 awards, and that the advertisements preliminary to payment in these cases are being published at once. I may say also that satisfactory progress is now being made in disposing of defended pre-Truce claims for property damaged, and that 89 of such claims were advertised for payment on the 18th of last month. I think the amount involved in connection with the 113 cases would be somewhere in the neighbourhood of £300,000, and we have already advanced in other cases something in the neighbourhood of half a million, so that we are rapidly mounting up towards one million in connection with the amount of money we have made available in these cases. I formally move the adoption of this.