asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he will state the basis upon which a salary of £800 was fixed as remuneration for the office of County Surveyor, Tipperary North Riding; and further, if he is aware that a rate of sixpence per mile travelling expenses for this office is an exorbitant charge on the ratepayers.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Salary of County Surveyor (Co. Tipperary).
The salary fixed was £700 per annum, rising by annual increments of £20 to a maximum of £800 per annum. The basis upon which the salary was fixed was the value of the public duties the post involved. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative.
Does the Minister think it is fair to mulct the ratepayers of Tipperary with this charge of sixpence per mile while in Leix and Offaly men occupying a similar post have fivepence per mile? Does the Minister realise what sixpence a mile means to the average countryman? Why, a hackney car in Dublin would hardly charge sixpence per mile. These men have to travel about 500 miles a week and, worked out at sixpence a mile, that means £12 10s. 0d. for travelling expenses. That in itself is a nice salary.
If it has been found necessary—but it has not—for the new engineer in North Tipperary to travel 500 miles in the week, his work there in the very near future will, I hope, render such extensive travelling unnecessary.
Can the Minister say if the speedometers on the motor cars are subject to a check?
Probably the Deputy knows whether or not that is the case in Co. Westmeath.
The travelling expenses there amount to some £300 a year.
Why does not the Minister accede to the salary and travelling expenses fixed for this officer by the County Council? What was the Minister's reason for sending down for particulars of the action of each councillor in connection with this appointment? I must say the Minister's attitude was almost in the nature of a threat.
I feel sure the local authorities and Deputies interested in the matter will find satisfactory my judgment and the judgment of the Department in this matter of fixing a salary; they will find that judgment sound when they see the quality of the work that will be done under the new conditions. The other question is a different question, and I do not know anything about it at the moment. Perhaps the Deputy will put down a separate question on that matter.
To my mind the judgment of the County Council and each county councillor should have been relied upon. This whole matter is very different from what the Minister thinks. The County Council are the custodians of the ratepayers, and they have a pretty shrewd idea as to what the ratepayers can afford. The salary they fixed should have been agreed to.
How long ago is it since the Minister fixed the rate for travelling expenses for local officials? Has there been any revision of that rate?
The amount to be paid by way of salary to a County Surveyor depends largely on the extent and the nature of the work he will have to perform. Arrangements for paying travelling expenses are not uniform in all counties. In the first place, some counties desire to fix the rates in a particular way. Other counties may desire to fix them in another way. The Department deals with these matters individually.
Does not the Minister claim the right to control the allowances made to local officials for the use of motor cars while engaged on public duties? I thought that was the function of his Department?
We do control them in a reasonable way.
There is no uniform system.
I do not know if the Deputy knows much about the minds or the workings of local bodies. If he does he would understand that there are many matters on which it is impossible to get uniformity when you have a number of local bodies with circumstances differing in different localities. In so far as the Department thinks uniformity is desirable, it helps to bring about a certain amount of uniformity. In the matter of fees and salaries there is sufficient uniformity for all practical purposes. Because some Deputy thinks that fivepence per mile should be given as a travelling allowance to a County Surveyor as against sixpence, or because some County Council may think that fivepence a mile would be sufficient, does not mean that there are chaotic conditions or that there are real differences in standard.