asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will request C.I.E. to review the practice at present obtaining in that company whereby employment is terminated in the case of an employee who is absent from duty for any reason of illness other than T.B.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - C.I.E. Employment.
I assume that the question refers to absence from duty owing to illness.
Under the Transport Act, 1950, one of the general duties of the board of C.I.E. is to maintain reasonable conditions of employment for its employees. I am informed by the board that no employee is dismissed from the service of the board because of absence owing to illness until the expiry of periods of absence ranging from six months in the case of temporary staff to as much as two and a half years in the case of certain staff who are members of the board's welfare scheme. Special arrangements are made in the case of absence owing to T.B.