asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state why he has not yet confirmed the revised conditions of employment and rates of wages agreed to by the apprenticeship committee (No. 2) on the 18th February, 1950, in respect of apprentices in the furniture trade outside the Dublin area, details of which were sent to him following on a meeting of the apprenticeship committee on the 13th April last, and also, why the rates of wages and conditions of employment agreed to by the committee in respect of furniture trade apprentices outside the Dublin area in October, 1947, and set out in notice of intention F.E. (R.I.) of the 21st October, 1947, were not confirmed either then or since by his Department and, whether, in view of that, he now proposes to confirm the revised wage rates agreed to by the committee in February last, with retrospective effect to October, 1947.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Furniture Trade Apprentices.
Certain legal requirements have to be complied with in connection with any question of the confirmation of rules submitted by apprenticeship committees. The apprenticeship committee (No. 2) for the furniture trade submitted the rules for confirmation on the 18th April last. A decision will be given at as early a date as possible. The draft rules set out in the notice of intention dated 21st October, 1947, were not confirmed, because they have since been amended by the committee and are incorporated in a revised form in the submission sent forward on 18th April, 1950.
The Apprenticeship Act does not empower me to make the rules effective from a date earlier than the date of a confirmation of rules Order.