asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider paying to labourers employed on arterial drainage schemes the same rate of wages as is paid by local authorities to their labourers in the areas in which the drainage work is being carried out.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Wages of Drainage Workers.
As indicated in reply to previous questions, labourers employed on arterial drainage schemes are paid uniform rates which are not directly related to the rates paid by local authorities. It is not proposed to adopt the suggestion put forward by the Deputy.
Can the Parliamentary Secretary say if the local rate has not, in fact, been paid for years to such employees on the Corrib and in the Galway City area? Is the Minister aware that the present rate being paid to employees on arterial drainage all over the country is as much as 26/- per week less than the local rate being paid to employees of local authorities in the same area?
The present rate for labourers employed on drainage schemes, except for labourers employed on the Corrib-Clare schemes in Galway borough, is two shillings an hour, that is, 96/- a week for a 48-hour week. The question of an increase in that rate is at present under consideration. One difficulty involved in paying drainage labourers the local county council road labourers' rate is that many drainage schemes extend over a number of counties and the position would arise of men being employed side by side on the same work at different rates, or perhaps even being employed in one county one day and in another county on the next, with resulting confusion and trouble.
Further arising out of the Parliamentary Secretary's reply, is the Parliamentary Secretary not aware that this same trouble arises in many State and semi-State employments and that there is no difficulty or confusion whatever, if an arrangement can be made either with the trade union concerned or, if no trade union is operating, with the men concerned, to pay a decent rate? That is all they are looking for.