asked the Taoiseach whether prior to March, 1932, any member of the present Government was employed as an officer of a local authority and during the period of such employment served on an imperial or commonwealth organisation dealing with imperial communications; and, if so. to state the name or names of any such member, the name of the organisation or body on which he served, the period of service thereon, the remuneration received by him in respect of it, whether the appointment of the person concerned was approved of by Dáil Éireann or by the local authority in whose service he was, and whether any part of the remuneration paid by the imperial organisation for services rendered or in respect of membership thereof was refunded to the local authority concerned or to the Exchequer.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Positions Occupied by Minister.
Dr. Thomas F. O'Higgins, the present Minister for Defence, was, on the nomination of the then Executive Council, appointed as the Saorstát representative on the former Imperial Communications Advisory Committee and acted in that capacity from the 3rd September, 1929, until the 7th March, 1932. During portion of that period—namely, from the 1st January, 1930—he was the Medical Officer of Health for County Meath. The remuneration received by him in respect of his membership of the committee was at the rate of £500 a year, which was paid out of the funds of the committee. The question of the approval of the appointment by Dáil Éireann or by the local authority in whose service Dr. O'Higgins was did not arise, and such approval was not accordingly sought; in this connection, I might mention that, subsequent to his appointment as Medical Officer of Health for County Meath, Dr. O'Higgin's services to the committee were rendered during periods of leave. No part of the remuneration received by Dr. O'Higgins from the committee was refunded either to the local authority referred to or to the Exchequer.