asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he will state if he has received unanimous and persistent recommendations from the Tipperary South Riding County Council that the wages paid to road workers in that area should be increased; whether he has caused any inquiry to be made into the council's representations; and if he will state the reasons for the refusal to sanction the council's recommendations.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Tipperary Road Workers' Wages.
Tipperary (S.R.) County is one of the counties where the rate paid to road workers had been higher than the agricultural rate, and in view of the national importance of agriculture it was laid down that the rates for agricultural labour should be preferential. To permit a higher rate for road works would only encourage the seeking of employment on road work to the disadvantage of agricultural work. Accordingly, an additional temporary emergency bonus not exceeding 2/- a week was approved for road workers from the 1st April last when the proposal of the local authority to grant an increase of 4/- a week to road labourers and 6/- to certain other road employees had been received. The road workers' wages had already been increased by emergency bonuses to 38/- so that the additional bonuses sanctioned brought their wages up to the agricultural level of 40/- a week. In the case of carters, the bonus rate was sanctioned so as to bring their pay to 12/6 per day, the maximum rate prevailing in other rural areas.
Will the Parliamentary Secretary say whether consideration is given to any other aspect of road workers' work and the conditions under which they work, than equating their wages to the agricultural rate of wages?
I would say that exactly the same principle was applied in this case as has been applied in other counties, making due allowance for the difference in the various counties and of the classes of work performed.
Will the Parliamentary Secretary say whether any consideration was given to the contents of the county medical officer's report for the County of Tipperary, and to the poverty conditions in certain parts of the county, and to the detailed representations made unanimously by the county council in the matter?
The matters raised in the letters received and the resolutions passed by the Tipperary County Council were taken into account, but it was felt that there could not be any departure from the general rule. I would remind the Deputy that there are six county councils where the 40/- rate prevails. The County Tipperary is one of them, so that it is not placed at a disadvantage with the other counties.
Will the Parliamentary Secretary say whether he has considered the reports of the county medical officers of health for North and South Tipperary for last year on the subject of the poverty that prevails in certain areas?
That is a separate question.
I suggest that it has a bearing on the conditions under which road workers, receiving 40/- a week, rear their families. I would ask him to make some reference to it, and I would further ask him whether he is now prepared to receive the deputation which the Tipperary County Council were unanimous in deciding to send to discuss the matter with him.
I do not think that, in present circumstances, any useful purpose would be served by receiving a deputation. As I have said, all the circumstances have been taken into account in connection with the matter.
If this matter is being based on the rate of wages for agricultural labourers, will the Parliamentary Secretary consider the conditions under which road workers work, and the partial nature of their occupation, as well as the relationship between the 40/- a week for a road worker on which he is expected to rear a family, and the minimum wages that are paid, say, to unmarried entrants into the lowest posts in the Civil Service?
All that I can say is that any information made available to the Department in connection with any departure from the general condition attaching to road workers' wages will be considered on its merits.