I wish to draw attention to an item in page 3. It is an item at the bottom of the page which states that the assistant foreman receives 45/- per week. There is nothing to show if there is any bonus with that rate of wages and if that is so it makes one wonder what rates are paid to the labourers and the general attendants around this building. I understand that the attendants in and around this building are paid the miserable sum of £2 a week; and that advantage has been taken of them because they are ex-soldiers with a very small pension, and those who employed them took jolly good care that the pension would come against their wages. Now I would ask any fair-minded man in this Dáil if £2 a week is a fair wage for an employee of a Government building? I only suggest to those in charge of this building that if these men will make application for a fair wage that they will see that it gets fair consideration. There is another item here referring to a female attendant—I am told that this attendant is not a little girl in an office. You will note that she is only getting 4d. per hour, otherwise £1 per week as a living wage in a Government building. Only £2 weekly are paid to general attendants. I ask those in charge of this building to see that when application is made these unfortunate people will receive sympathetic consideration.
ESTIMATES. - ATTENDANTS' WAGES.
I wish to call the Minister's attention also to the case of some assistants in the National Library. I had occasion to ask the Minister of Agriculture about the rate of remuneration of those officials about four weeks ago, and I made a statement to the effect that the employees with 15 years' service and over were receiving a basic wage of £80 per year, and the Minister of Agriculture contradicted that. He denied that any employee of 15 years' service had a basic wage of under £80 per year. Now my information is that there are men at the present time between 15 and 18½ years' service in the National Library who are receiving £75 per annum plus the bonus, so that their basic wage may be said to be less than £80 per year, and that the bonus is being reduced according to the reduction in the British Board of Trade figures every half year. They have already suffered three reductions under the British Board of Trade figures. I think the statement made by the Minister for Agriculture was to the effect that the whole conditions of their service in the National Library were being considered. I think they ought to be taken into consideration. I do not see any provisions or allowance made for improving the scale of remunertion of these employees. There is an allowance made or there is provision for the books to be purchased, but there is no allowance at all made for an increase in the salaries of these officials. As a result of further enquiry into the conditions that exist there, I would like the Minister to take into consideration and to make the allowances that are necessary.
I would like to say in regard to these payments that there are two bonuses. I think you gave me notice of this before and at the time it was explained. As regards the other payments, we pay all those attendants the same wage as they were being paid when they were under the British Government, and I do not know that we can afford to pay more than the British Government paid them. I have not consulted the Minister for Agriculture. There is some sort of statutory recognised principles upon which these payments were made. I do not know sufficient about it to be able to bring any contribution to bear on the subject. On the face of it I think it is strange that we should be expected to pay more than the British Government paid them.