Not a bit, but here is what has harm in it, here is what is resented by most people. The Parliamentary Secretary then went on to say:—
"As the Deputy is aware, for the position of paymaster you have to have a trustworthy individual."
Now, does he mean to insinuate that the only trustworthy individuals we have in Ireland are the shopkeepers, the graziers and the landlords? If I read into this rightly, that is what he means. Further, he said: "You want a reliable man." Now, Sir, I hold, and a lot of people in my constituency hold, that we have an army of young men available for employment. Some of them may belong to his own organisation, a lot of them may belong to the Fine Gael Party, to Clann na Poblachta and to Labour. I do not care to which of those Parties they belong, but I do say that we have in County Galway young, decent men who are reliable and trustworthy and who are capable of taking such work, and who have no other employment, and that they should get preference of jobs such as this one. As I have said, this is a wealthy individual, a man who has his own business to look after and whose hands are pretty well full if he makes even a feeble effort to look after it.
As a result of that question, I found it necessary to put down a further question for to-day's Order Paper, under a number of headings, to give the Parliamentary Secretary a reasonable opportunity of giving me a reply to the questions to which I wanted answers. I asked if the Minister would state the area in which this man would operate. I was told he would operate in the rural districts of Tuam and Glenamaddy. This individual has been an organiser for the Parliamentary Secretary, and the areas referred to here which this individual is covering are the areas that comprise about 75 per cent. of the constituency which the Parliamentary Secretary has the honour to represent and which I have the honour to represent as well. I hold that the appointment, in the first place, is very suitable for the Parliamentary Secretary, because the State will be paying an organiser for him.
Under (b) I asked who did the work heretofore. It was not being done by anybody before. The people who were getting any money from the Board of Works were being paid direct by the Board of Works. Therefore, I hold that it was a job that was being created for this particular individual. In (c) I asked whether the vacancy was advertised and the qualifications required. I was told: "The vacancy was not advertised; the principal qualifications are probity and trustworthiness and ability to perform clerical work involved in the discharge of wages sheets." As I pointed out, I am certain there is an army of young men who could be found to do that and who have no other employment. In (d) I asked whether there was any examination or interview and the reply to that was: "There was no competitive examination; Mr. Flannery was interviewed by officials of my office." I pass from that without comment. In (e) I asked on whose recommendation Mr. Flannery was selected and I was told: "The appointee was one of a number of persons whose names were submitted to me, and he was selected by me as being the most suitable for the post." I should like to hear from the Parliamentary Secretary to-night the names and addresses of the other candidates, because otherwise I will not believe any statement made by the Parliamentary Secretary. I want this case threshed out in public in order to put it before my constituents and let them judge whether or not this is the only reliable and trustworthy person the Parliamentary Secretary could find in that constituency from his Party or any other Party to fill this particular job. In (f) I asked if this man will still be free to pursue his political activities and the answer I got was: "He cannot engage in any political activities which would interfere with the proper discharge of the duties of the post." Some time ago a political test was put to all Fianna Fáil employees in the County Galway.
