Through the courtesy of the Chair, I have been permitted to raise the subject of question 7 on to-day's Order Paper and to deal with what I regard as the unsatisfactory reply of the Minister to that question. May I quote the question and answer? The question was:
"To ask the Minister for Local Government if he is aware that the Cork County Council decided to increase the wages of carters employed on road work from 12/6 to 20/ a day, and subject to sanction, granted an increase of 10/- a week to all other road workers; whether these proposals were submitted to him; if so, whether he has sanctioned them; and if not, whether he will state the grounds on which he refused to sanction the action of the county council in regard to a matter of this kind, which is one of primary local interest."
The reply was as follows:
"A proposal to increase the wages of carters by 7/6 a day and of other road workers by 10/- a week was submitted to me. I have sanctioned rates of 44/- and 47/6 a week for road workers where the existing rates were 43/- and 43/6 a week respectively and authorised a flat rate of 13/6 a day for carters. The rates sanctioned for road workers are the minimum agricultural rates for the different areas and I am not prepared to sanction rates in excess of these rates. Should the minimum agricultural wage rates be increased in the near future I shall be prepared to review my decision on the proposal of the Cork County Council in the light of the agricultural wage rates fixed by the Agricultural Wages Board."
I hope in the short time available to present the case on behalf of the road workers of Cork County in a manner that will leave the House in no doubt as to the unwisdom of the Minister's action in refusing to comply with the wishes of the county council. I am even optimistic enough to hope that I may be able to convince the Minister also. This is a matter of very considerable importance, of increasing urgency for a very large number of families in County Cork. The road staff of the Cork County Council consists of about 2,000 employees and I repeat what I said to-day that the overwhelming majority consists of rural cottiers, in other words, men living in labourers' cottages originally built by the district councils and now under the control of the county council. That also applies to the few hundred carters who are employed by the county council though in that category there are a number of men who live on small uneconomic holdings and who in many cases are in circumstances as bad as those of the rural cottier and in some cases in worse circumstances. A regulation was made by the county council a number of years ago that, other things being equal, preference should be given in employment in the county council to married men. That is a good, sound principle and it has been pretty rigidly applied throughout the county over a number of years. Consequently, the overwhelming majority of the men in question are married men.
The House will remember that some years ago wages in this country were controlled and increases were permitted only after investigation by a tribunal set up by the State. The road workers throughout this country were one class excepted from the provisions of that scheme. The road workers have no alternative tribunal to investigate or to deal with their case and in such circumstances the application of the road workers was made to the members of the local authority.
If the local authority had, as I believe they should have, a full voice in dealing with this matter, the tribunal would be an excellent one, consisting as it does of the elected representatives of the people, of rate-payers and of people generally who are familiar with the circumstances of the employees concerned. The county council predominantly consists of farmers. That is an important consideration in view of the basis of the Minister's argument resisting the increases. They are large employers, in a number of cases, of agricultural labour. The Cork County Council, irrespective of Party or the class from which its members are drawn, unanimously granted to the road workers the demand which is the subject of this question and discussion. Not a single voice was raised in dissent. That unanimity was preserved when, on a subsequent occasion, the Minister's adverse decision was received. Again, the council unanimously directed the county manager to re-submit the matter to the Minister for reconsideration. I emphasise that that is important in view of the argument put up by the Minister that he was bound to relate the wages of the road workers to existing agricultural rates. The wages of the road workers in County Cork, following the small increase granted by the Minister, now stand, for the overwhelming majority of the men concerned, at £2 4s. a week. It is true that a comparatively small number of workers — perhaps not more than 200 — have received a higher rate of wage in accordance with the Minister's decision.
I think it is not a good principle that the workers in the county who do exactly the same class of work should be segregated into different groups and that in the economic sense there should be partition of the county between various sections of workers who all do exactly the same work. May I repeat also what I said here this afternoon, that I think the argument of the Minister that the wage should be strictly related to the agricultural rate is based on a fallacy? My submission to the House is that, generally speaking, the rates payable to agricultural workers in County Cork exceed considerably, in a number of cases, the wages paid to the road workers, and that the minimum wage for agricultural workers should not be related, as the Minister endeavours to relate it, to the maximum wage for road workers. Let me say, before leaving that matter, that the Cork County Council has, I think, no mean record in the local government of this country. When the Local Government Act was passed, and when the Cork County Council was established as a result of that Act, it displayed a grip of agricultural administration and a desire to carry on the work of local administration in a progressive way that attracted very widespread attention. The House is aware of the fact that the council speaks for the largest administrative area in the country, one-eighth of the whole State, and that the work of the council over a number of years has been notable for a clean and efficient administration, not alone in the matter of road work but in regard to administration generally. I think it may be said, without any undue spirit of arrogance, that that is the record of the council, irrespective of whatever majority or party or section which may have been represented on it from time to time.
May I submit to the House that this wage of £2 4s. and £2 7s. for a small restricted number of workers is very largely a fictitious wage? I would impress on the Minister as strongly as I possibly can that there is no such thing as 12 months' work for the road workers in County Cork. Roughly speaking, the period of employment would be about nine months in the year but, in order to make sure that I do not exaggerate this matter in any way, I have extended that period to 45 weeks in the year. I consider, however, that this figure overstates the position somewhat. I submitted a question to-day to endeavour to elicit from the Minister the average wage of road workers in the county in the years 1945, 1946, 1947. The Minister has not been able to give the figures so far. I can readily understand the difficulty of getting these figures, and I have no grievance whatever on that particular point. However, fearing that that might be the position when the matter would come up for discussion and as they had an important bearing on the whole position, I got some figures on the matter myself. I asked the county secretary to give me whatever assistance he could in providing certain figures. The most accurate figures I have been able to get represent the cases of a very large number of workers in the employment of the council who, over the last few years, have been injured in the course of their employment. The House will appreciate that when a county council worker or other worker applies to the courts to have his case examined his average wage over a certain period has to be proved. I have here a very formidable list for the years in question. I have summarised the list as accurately as I can to show that the figures I have already quoted are far in excess of the actual wages of the road workers in County Cork. Take the case of a number of road workers injured by accident in 1944 and subsequent years. On the figures I have obtained I have taken a figure of 20 weeks in the year 1944— the Minister can investigate the figures in any way he desires later — and it has been proved in court that the earnings of the men in question, taking the year as a whole, did not exceed 34/10.
In 1945 the wage of 19 men whose cases were investigated by the courts, again taking a basis of 20 weeks or longer as the period for investigation, did not exceed 37/8. Allowing a period of 45 weeks I think this would go to show that the average wage throughout the county was not much in excess of 30/- a week. If we allow for certain small increases that have been granted since the years mentioned, where certain sets of figures are concerned, I think it would be almost strictly accurate to say that the wage at the present time would be 32/7 per week. Surely the Minister realises that that is not a wage that can be defended in this House or anywhere else. If we apply the amount of money in that wage to the needs of a family I think he will readily admit that the situation is becoming impossible for the workers concerned. I have received representations on many occasions and I am sure every public representative has received many letters from road workers who have had difficulty in meeting their obligations — actually in meeting their rent although the rent is not the largest part of their outgoing. A number of them have to travel considerable distances to their work. There is a heavy wear and tear on the clothing of those who do tarring work and work of that kind which makes their position more difficult than the position of other road workers. I submit also that the boots required for their work have to be of a kind that will make some decent show of resistance to weather conditions and, consequently they are more expensive than boots which would not have to stand up to such wear and tear. The county council again unanimously provided money for this purpose — the money has actually been voted this year. I think it is important to mention that fact in view of the fact that it has been stated from time to time and, I think with the authority of the Minister, that the county council has the power of the purse.
If the county council had the power of the purse in this case the matter would now be an accomplished fact rather than a source of controversy in this House. There is very considerable unrest and dissatisfaction among road workers in the county because of this matter. I can understand it. Anybody who appreciates the difficulty of people rearing a family to-day can understand how real and how earnest that discontent is. I think that the Minister might realise that the procedure originally adopted in restricting the road workers in having their cases investigated is one that comes perilously near infringing on the provisions of the Constitution. I am not sure that the question if taken into the courts would not provide a nice and important point of law.
I do not want to state this case in any terms of exaggeration. I rather want to argue this matter as honestly and fairly as I can with the Minister. I invite the Minister to send an inspector of his Department — and there are very many efficient in his Department —to County Cork to investigate this matter on the spot, to hear for himself unofficially what the position is, to go into the figures in connection with the case, and to say to the Minister when he comes back, as I believe he must say, that the present wage is indefensible in view of the conditions which have changed so rapidly and so seriously for the wage earners concerned. I realise that I have spoken at greater length on this matter than I should having regard to the undoubted right of the Minister to make his case. I am anxious to hear that case. I am hoping that the Minister will reconsider this matter and I think he can do so very gracefully. I do not think he will lose the least bit of prestige in agreeing to reconsider the matter and having it investigated in any way that he desires in order that the facts may be elicited. I am quite prepared to stand over the case made for the road workers. I think it is a fair and just case and I hope that the Minister will be convinced of the justice and the undoubted merits of that case.
