asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason for the transfer of the control of employment exchanges from the Department of Labour to his Department.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Control of Employment Exchanges.
32.
In 1966, when the Department of Labour was set up, control of the employment exchanges was transferred from the Department of Social Welfare to the new Department. The employment service functions vested in the exchanges under the Labour Exchanges Act, 1909, were transferred to the Minister for Labour under the Labour (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) (No. 2) Order, 1966. Benefit-paying functions of the exchanges in relation to unemployment benefit and assistance, were carried out by the new Department of Labour on an agency basis for the Department of Social Welfare.
A Government decision in January, 1968, approved the setting up of a newly-organised placement and guidance service—the National Manpower Service—within the Department of Labour, and also approved a proposal that the question of an eventual return of the benefit-paying function of the employment exchanges to the Department of Social Welfare should be a matter for arrangement between the two Ministers.
Following discussions between the two Departments arrangements were made which culminated in the transfer of the control of employment exchanges to the Department of Social Welfare from 1st April, 1973.
May I ask the Parliamentary Secretary if placement officers are located at the employment exchanges?
That would be a matter for the Department of Labour.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary not think that the employment exchanges, being concerned with unemployment and efforts to re-employ people, should have placement officers in them? It would seem more sensible that employment exchanges should be under the control of the Department of Labour.
While I do not necessarily disagree with the Deputy, this is not the function of the Department of Social Welfare. At this point I can only speak for that Department.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary not agree that this is a step backwards and that the arrangements made by the last Government were a step forward to try to make people more inclined to seek employment through their exchanges than they would have been otherwise?
I do not agree that the last Government made a mistake in making this arrangement. It was made prior to the present administration taking over. We are only implementing what had already been finalised.