Vol. 191 No. 9
I move:
That a sum not exceeding £219,450 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1962, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Houses of the Oireachtas, including certain Grants-in-Aid.
I have referred from time to time to the need for amplification in this House. Very often I cannot hear what is said here; others cannot hear, either. Half the time, when I might be tempted to get up. I cannot do so because I am not clear as to what has been said. Half the time I get the first bit, but not the second bit. It is a shame that we should lack amenities in this House. I was in the Senate Chamber in Northern Ireland recently. It would fit into this Chamber four times. There is amplification there and there is amplification in the Northern Commons. There is Commons. There is amplification in amplification in the House of all the churches. A few moments ago, the Minister for Lands had to cock his ears in order to hear what was being said. Suppose we were all sitting here chatting. At Question Time, I do not hear half the things the Taoiseach says. After he has made the first few remarks, everyone starts to talk. It dies down again later. The time has come when we should have proper amenities so that everybody will know what is being said.
I suggest, too, that there ought to be some type of small lounge off the bar where a Deputy might bring his wife or a friend. Women are not permitted in the bar. They can be brought into the restaurant, but there is no privacy there. I am sure we could all be depended upon to bring in respectable people.
We will supply all that in the new building.
I want to raise one question in relation to the staff. There are certain members of the Houses of the Oireachtas who had service with earlier Dála and that service has not been taken into account in relation to permanent establishment. They were unestablished first. When they became established, the earlier service was not taken fully into account. There is a very special case to be made for such personnel. The Minister may ask, quite fairly, why I did not deal with that matter when I was on that side of the House. It is only since I went out of office that I ascertained this hardship was in existence. It is not a matter with which the Minister can deal off the cuff. I am not suggesting he can but I would ask him to look into it to see if anything can be done, because there is a special case in this instance apart from the general Civil Service position.
If the Deputy makes that point we shall look into it because my answer would have been that it is the same in the Civil Service.
This is a special instance.
Would the Minister agree to consider specially the point raised by Deputy Sweetman and to deal sympathetically with the matter?
Yes.
