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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 29 Oct 1970

Vol. 249 No. 2

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Public Servants Civil Rights.

82.

asked the Minister for Finance when he intends to amend the regulations concerning the civil rights and political freedom of civil servants and other public employees.

As I indicated in a reply to a question on 26th May, 1970, further progress on the claims submitted, which have far-reaching implications, must await decisions by the Government on certain issues. These decisions will be taken at the earliest possible opportunity.

Last May, the then Minister for Finance, Deputy Haughey, indicated he would have no objection to introducing such elementary civil political rights for public servants if the conciliation and arbitration council agreed to such a proposition. Now the Minister indicates that it would require Government decisions and that certain implications would have to be considered. May I take it that in principle the Minister is agreeable and will he expedite the matter?

If I might give one example of the far-reaching implications to which I referred, the present claim relates only to one section of the Civil Service. It is quite clear that the granting of such a claim would have to include consideration of the treatment of the rest of the Civil Service on the same basis. This is just one example. I do not think I could accede to the Deputy's request that I should be taken at this stage as agreeing in principle to it. I am not making any comment on that until the Government have considered the matter fully.

Surely the Minister is aware of the preposterous position that a worker who goes up an ESB pole may join a political party and engage in a political activity but a worker who goes up a post office pole is liable to lose his job if he does the same. Surely the anomalies are obvious. There is disgraceful discrimination against certain grades of civil servants and the reactionary circular of 1935, the signatory to which was Deputy Kevin Boland's father, should be withdrawn because it is disgraceful.

I think it would be true to say that the majority of people would have some reservations about which they would like to think for some time before agreeing to the proposition that all of our public servants should engage in politics. I am not prepared to go any further than I have gone in indicating that the Government will be considering this matter and making decisions. I am not prepared to say anything more than that.

Is it not ridiculous that a teacher can be a member of this House but a postman cannot even be a Member of a political party?

We are not suggesting that the higher grades of public servants should have total freedom in this regard but we suggest that many thousands of public servants in relatively minor grades should have normal political freedom at least to express at local level, if they so wish, a particular point of view, or stand for election. An ESB worker can stand for the Dáil but a post office worker is completely prohibited from doing so, which is an absolute disgrace.

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