asked the Minister for Labour why it was considered necessary to readvertise the positions of industrial liaison officers in his Department on 14th May, 1975; and if he will outline the changes from the previous advertisement and the reason for them.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Industrial Liaison Officers.
13.
The success of the work of industrial liaison officers appointed in my Department to maintain contact with major developments in key sections will to a large extent depend on the quality of the personnel selected.
Certain applicants might have been reluctant to reply in view of objections which the staff association had expressed on the establishment of the unit. Following the resolution of these objections, I felt it would be desirable to readvertise the posts and thereby extend the closing date so that persons interested in the posts might have a reasonable opportunity of submitting applications.
There is one part of the question which I do not think the Minister answered, that is the changes from the first advertisement to the second one.
Yes, that is true. From my knowledge of the advertisement I think the only change was that the period of service required for the prospective officers was cut from eight to five years.
Would the Minister not accept that the reason for the second advertisement was a breakdown in negotiations or consultations?
There was a labour dispute.
What kind of labour dispute? Was there not a breakdown in communications from the month of March until such time as an emergency situation arose in the country?
The Deputy will appreciate that there was the possibility of many applicants who might be interested in this post not applying when there was full public knowledge reported in the press that there was a dispute situation in my Department. It was obvious again that, if I wished to have the possibility of obtaining the most suitable applicants, there should be a fresh advertisement when the threat of a strike was lifted.
I accept that fully, but would the Minister not now accept that if consultations had been held with the staff in time before the first advertisement was inserted the country would have been saved the added expense of a second advertisement?
Does the Deputy not know that when a dispute is settled there is no point in going into the history and the background of it?
Is it not true that if——
History is full of ifs.
The dispute is not involved in this question.