asked the Taoiseach if he will state (1) the rate of wages required at (a) mid-February, 1959, (b) mid-May, 1959, and (c) mid-August, 1959, to equal the value of the minimum adult rate in each area prescribed by the Agricultural Wages Board with effect from 28th May, 1956, and (2) the revised adult rates in each area.
Written Answers. - Agricultural Wages.
73.
The best available indicator of the general purchasing power of money in this connection is the Consumer Price Index, which, to base mid-August, 1947=100, was 147 at mid-February and mid-May, 1959 and 144 at mid-August, 1959 or 9.7 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively higher than at mid-May, 1956. The following statement shows (1) the weekly amounts (to the nearest penny) which represent 109.7 per cent and 107.5 per cent of each of the minimum weekly rates specified for adults in the Agricultural Wages (Minimum Rates) Order, 1956 and (2) the minimum weekly rates specified for adults in the Agricultural Wages (Minimum Rates) Order, 1959.
|
(1) |
(2) |
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|
Area and Age Group |
Statutory minimum wage rates for adults adjusted in proportion to the change in the Consumer Price Index between:— |
Statutory minimum wage rates specified for adults in the Agricultural Wages (Minimum Rates) Order, 1959 |
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|
mid-May, 1956 and mid-May, 1956 and (a) mid-February or (b) mid-May, 1959 (c) mid-August, 1959 |
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|
Males |
||||||
|
s. |
d. |
s. |
d. |
s. |
d. |
|
|
In Group A areas: |
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|
Aged 20 years and over |
116 |
3 |
113 |
11 |
112 |
0 |
|
In Group B areas: |
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|
Aged 20 years and over |
109 |
8 |
107 |
6 |
106 |
0 |
|
In Group C areas: |
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|
Aged 20 years and over |
104 |
3 |
102 |
2 |
101 |
0 |
|
Females |
||||||
|
s. |
d. |
s. |
d. |
s. |
d. |
|
|
In Dublin County Borough and County Dublin: |
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|
Aged 19 years and over |
74 |
7 |
73 |
1 |
72 |
0 |
|
In County Kildare: |
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|
Aged 19 years and over |
65 |
10 |
64 |
6 |
64 |
0 |
74.
asked the Taoiseach if he will estimate the cost to agricultural employers in each of the three wages areas and the total cost of an increase in farm wages of 3d. per hour for a 50-hour week on the basis of the number of agricultural insurance stamps sold in the financial year ended 31st March, 1959.
It is not possible to estimate the particulars requested by the Deputy from the sales of Agricultural Insurance Stamps as an individual stamp may be purchased to cover work done in only part of a week and it does not therefore necessarily represent a full week of 50 hours. The total number of Agricultural Insurance Stamps sold in the twelve months ended 31st March, 1959 was 2,982,808. Separate figures of the sales of these stamps in the three areas defined in the Agricultural Wages (Minimum Rates) Order, 1959, are not available.
75.
asked the Taoiseach if he will state the estimated cost to agricultural employers in the group A areas, as defined by the Agricultural Wages Board, of increasing the minimum agricultural wages payable to adult workers to £7 9s. per week, which is the minimum wage now paid to farm workers in the Belfast area; and if he will state the estimated cost to agricultural employers of paying a minimum wage of £7 9s. to adult farm workers, having regard to the estimated number of such workers now employed in the group A areas.
The cost of increasing the minimum weekly rate of agricultural workers 20 years of age and over in the Group A area, as defined in the Agricultural Wages (Minimum Rates) Order, 1959, to £7 9s. is estimated at £312,000 on the basis of the number of permanent male agricultural workers in this Area in June, 1958. The estimated total cost of paying a weekly rate of £7 9s. to these workers is £1,255,000 per annum.