asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state the estimated cost of the Agricultural Wages Board for the period ended 31st March, 1938, and further, whether he will state the basis on which (a) the chairman, and (b) the other members of the board are remunerated for their services.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Agricultural Wages Board.
A sum of £5,000 has been provided in the Vote of the Department of Agriculture in respect of the cost of the administration of the Agricultural Wages Board for the period up to 31st March, 1938.
The chairman of the board receives an annual salary at the rate of £750 per annum, inclusive, with subsistence and travelling allowances at the appropriate rates.
The other members of the board receive no remuneration, but are allowed subsistence and travelling expenses. In addition, workers' members may be paid compensation in respect of actual loss of wages due to attendance at meetings of the board.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state the names of the members of the Agricultural Wages Board, and their qualifications in each case; further, whether he will state the sources from which nominations were made in respect of the appointment of the representative members of the board.
The names of the members of the Agricultural Wages Board were announced in the Iris Oifigiúil of the 4th May last. One member— Mr. Thomas Ruane, Carnmore, Claregalway, County Galway—who represented agricultural employers has since died, and has been replaced by Mr. Martin Neilan, Kilcolgan Castle, County Galway. The members' qualifications are as prescribed in Section 5 of the Act. All the members of the board were nominated by me on my own responsibility in accordance with the statutory requirements.
Arising out of the Minister's reply, will he say from what source the nominations came to him?
From various sources— county committees of agriculture and other sources.
From what source did the nominations of the workers' representatives come, because that is portion of the question?
From the county committees of agriculture and from Deputies, principally.
Will the Minister state the sources from which came the nominations in respect of the appointment of representative members of the board? That is the question that I asked the Minister, and that question is designed to ascertain from the Minister where he got the nominations.
The nominations were made by me.
But the Minister says that he got these nominees from certain sources, and the object of this question is to ascertain the sources from which they came, because there are grave doubts that some of the workers' representatives on the board are not bona fide representatives at all.
The nominations were made by me.
But from what source? That is the question, and the Minister is studiously avoiding answering it.
I object to that, Sir. I have answered the question as it was put, but I have also answered more than was in the question. If the Deputy had asked me where I got the nominations, I would have answered him.
The question asks whether the Minister will state the sources from which nominations were made in respect of the appointment of the representative members of the board. To ask for the sources from which the nominations were made clearly implies a question as to where the Minister got the names in the first instance.
It is possible that the Deputy had meant to imply that, but I did not read that into it.
That is the clear meaning of the question. What is the objection to answering it?
There is no objection whatever to answering any question that is put, if the Deputy knew how to put it. The Deputy wants to know from where I got recommendations, and I have answered that also, though it was not in the question. I took nominations from lists supplied by county committees of agriculture, Deputies and others.
The question is perfectly clear, I submit, although the Minister wants to be obtuse about its meaning to avoid answering it. The question asks the Minister to state the sources from which nominations were made in respect of the appointment of the representative members of the board. That has a perfectly normal meaning to anyone who wants to apply normal intelligence to it. The Minister, however, wants to avoid it, because he does not want to disclose the source of some of the workers' representatives because they are not representative.
I have answered the question as it was put, and I have also answered what the Deputy meant to ask, and that is from what source I got the recommendations. I have told the Deputy that I got the recommendations from county committees of agriculture and from Deputies and others.
Arising out of the Minister's reply, are we to understand that the Mr. Neilan referred to was recently a Deputy of the Fianna Fáil Party in this House?
Yes.
Yes. If so, would the Minister further inform us from what source he got that gentleman's name recommended as the representative of agricultural employers on the board? I notice the Minister does not answer that question.