asked the Minister for Lands, if, in view of the high cost of living, he is prepared to grant an increase of wages to all those employed by the Forestry Department and by his Department.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Forestry Workers—Proposed Wages Increase.
It is presumed that the Deputy's question relates to the wages rates of labourers employed by the Forestry Division and of labourers employed on Land Commission estate improvement works.
The wages of both classes of labourers are related to the rates payable to other classes of labourers in Government employment, and may not be altered at the sole discretion of my Department. It is customary to review their rates of wages in the light of the variations in the minimum rates payable to agricultural labourers under Orders promulgated from time to time by the Agricultural Wages Board. The rates were last reviewed on the 7th February, 1944, following the Agricultural Wages (Minimum Rates) Order, 1944, and an increase of 4/- a week was then granted to each of the two classes. The minimum rates at present paid are:—Land Commission labourers: 37/- a week, Forestry labourers: 39/- a week.
The £2 a week paid to workers employed by the State is based on what the ordinary farmer pays to his men. Surely, the State should pay decent wages when it compels other people to do so. In view of the fact that other State servants have got an emergency bonus and a cost-of-living bonus, I think the Government should pay a bonus to the people it employs on forestry and land work. We all know that, with the cost of living at what it is to-day, it is impossible for the men in the rural districts to live on £2 a week. Some of those men have to cycle long distances to their work, and what they are getting would not keep tyres on their bicycles, not to talk of feeding them.