asked the Minister for Agriculture what was the original salary of (a) the Chairman and (b) the members of Bord na gCon; what increases in these salaries have been granted since the setting up of the Bord; and what are the present salaries.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Bord na gCon Salaries.
31.
The original remuneration of the Chairman of Bord na gCon was £2,000 a year. This was increased to £2,500 as from 1st September, 1961, to £3,000 as from 1st September, 1962, and to £3,360 as from 1st February, 1964.
My, my, my! What a pleasant thing to be an ex-Fianna Fáil T.D!
The remuneration of the ordinary members of the Board has been £250 a year each since the Board was set up in 1958.
Are we now to take it that an ex-Deputy, the Chairman of Bord na gCon, has increased his own salary to the sum of £3,500 and the members of the Board have got no increase?
The salary of the Chairman is fixed, of course, by the Minister for Agriculture, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and the total increase has been from £2,000 to £3,360.
Not a bad jump at all.
The latest increase was simply the application to him of the ninth round.
Would it be correct to say that the last adjustment in his remuneration was designed to correspond with the 2/6 given to the old age pensioner?
Would the Minister tell us why the same increase, or an increase in proportion, was not given to the members of the Board?
There is a difference. The members of the Board are part-time members and the Chairman is in the nature of a full-time official and, as such, must receive adjustments of salary. I may say that, in my opinion, this task of being Chairman of Bord na gCon is the most thankless and difficult task in the country.
"Thankless" is scarcely the appropriate word there.
I would suggest to the Minister that, because of the inefficiency and ineptitude of the Chairman, he has made a complete mess of the greyhound industry.
Deputy Coughlan is tempting me to reply on certain lines, but I shall refrain from doing so. I rebut the implication in his remarks. The whole position of the greyhound industry has improved enormously and remarkably, both internally and in its export potential, since this Board has come into operation and as a result of its work.
And so has the position of the Chairman.
And so has the position of the Deputy, if it comes to that.
The Minister's position has improved a lot since he was down in Waterford looking for a job. He had to sleep three in a bed. The Minister for Health!
(Interruptions.)
Order.