asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he is aware that lock-keepers on the Royal Canal are not notified of the increase of wages or bonus which has been granted to employees of other public bodies: that Mr. Thomas Rodgers, of Ards Kenagh, who has charge of three locks, is at present receiving a wage of only £1 7s. 6d. per week, although when he was working on one lock his wage was £1 10s. 0d. per week; that Mr. Rodgers is on duty from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. when a boat is operating there, and that he must support a wife and nine children; and if he will take steps to have this man's wages increased.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Lock-Keepers' Wages.
No application for a Bonus Order, applicable to lock-keepers on the Royal Canal, has been made. The control of wages effected by Emergency Powers (No. 260) Order does not apply, in rural areas, to remuneration which is more than 1/- per week below the minimum agricultural rate. It is therefore open to Mr. Rodgers' employers to increase his present remuneration without the authority of a Bonus Order. I have, however, no power to enforce the payment of any particular rate of wages for this occupation. I have been informed that Mr. Rodgers' remuneration is 29/6 per week, in addition to a cottage and a plot of land, free of rent, and that his duties are nominal and would not represent more than about a half-day's work per week.
Arising out of the Minister's reply I wish to state——
The Deputy may ask a question.
I ask the Minister to inquire further into this case because Rodgers' land is of no use to him. He will give the land over as there is nothing on it. There are no mearings on it; it is only a canal line. I was informed that he was getting only 27/6 per week. Would the Minister be prepared to consider the case of all these employees or is it the Minister or the Railway Company that is responsible for them?
The remuneration of these employees, as I explained, is not subject to control by the Government.
Would the Minister explain what he means by stating that the duties of a lock-keeper are only nominal?
On the particular canal in question, the average traffic is one boat per week.