asked the Minister for Local Government if he will take steps to fill the vacancy of assistant county engineer for Lismore district, County Waterford; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Waterford Engineering Vacancy.
19.
The making of an appointment to such a post is a matter for the local authority concerned following the recommendation of a suitable candidate by the Local Appointments Commissioners. There are no proposals before my Department.
I am sure the Minister is au fait with the problem. I do not want to drag it across the House. This problem goes back to the Claudia affair which I am sure the Minister is well aware of. Is there any possibility that I could ask the Minister now, as a gesture of goodwill, to bring before the Government that the stigma should be lifted off the man being debarred from getting a job in a local authority for seven years? He has paid his debt to society. He has been brought before the courts. The case is over. This is the only thing that stands in the way.
I do not want to get into a dispute in this House but I wish that Deputies would realise that if the State takes action against a certain individual and there are regulations laid down, Deputies as well as Ministers should stand over the decisions made. That has always been the practice. This is not a matter which should be debated in the House.
I am not anxious to debate it. The Minister knows as well as I do that there is provision in the Act. I am not asking the Minister to give him back his job. All I am asking is that as a gesture of goodwill the stigma of being debarred from a job with a local authority for seven years would be lifted.