Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 24 Oct 1978

Vol. 308 No. 6

Written Answers. - EEC Farm Workers.

478.

Mr. Tully

asked the Minister for Agriculture the rates of pay, hours of work and paid holidays of farm workers in each EEC state.

Minister for Agriculture (Mr. Gibbons)

The particulars requested are set out in the following table:

Country	Rates of Pay (Hourly unless stated)	Hours of work per week unless stated	Paid annual holidays (Working days)
Ireland	Zone A*
	19 years and over	£1.11		The equivalent of three weeks. Proportionately less if 11 months or less are worked during the year.
	18 years	£0.95	42½
	17 years	£0.84
	16 years	£0.72
	15 years £0.61
	Zone B*
	19 years and over	£1.10
	18 years	£0.94
	17 years	£0.83
	16 years	£0.72
	15 years	£0.61
United Kingdom
(i) England and		£43.00 per week	40	10-15 working days.
Wales.
(ii) Scotland		£44.00 per week	41¼(Summer)	10-15 working days.
			36¼ (Winter)
(iii) Northern		£43.00 per week	41	10-15 working days.
Ireland
Belgium	Qualified	£2.37	40	20
	Non-qualified	£2.06
Denmark	On contract
	Unskilled	£3.01
	Skilled	£3.21
	Hired Hands
	Unskilled	£3.11	40	Two days per month up to a maximum of 24 days.
	Skilled	£3.31
	17 years old	£2.33
	16 years old	£2.02
	14-15 years old	£1.55
France		£1.31	40	Two days per month worked
Germany	Skilled Agricultural Workers	£2.29 and £2.34	43	19
	Agricultural Labourers	£2.14 and £2.16
	Trained Labourers	£2.02 and £2.03
	(Heavy work)
	Trained Labourers	£1.54 and £1.62
	(Light work)
	(Rates vary between Regions)
Italy	Very skilled	£215.06 per month	40	26
	Skilled	£201.10 per month
	Ordinary	£186.08 per month
Luxembourg		£284.21 per month	173 per month	24
Netherlands	Skilled Labourer A
		£108.58 per week	40	21 days at 18 yrs and over
		£131.59 per week		24 days at less than 18 yrs.
		£141.25 per week		At 60 yrs of age — 1 day extra
	Skilled Labourer B
		£102.94 per week		At 61 yrs of age — 2 days extra
		£124.69 per week		At 62 yrs of age — 3 days extra
		£118.60 per week		At 63 yrs of age — 4 days extra
	Seasonal Labourer
		£100.76 per week		At 64 yrs of age — 5 days extra
	Unskilled Labourer
		£99.38 per week

NOTE:

The rates of pay for non-sterling countries are based on current exchange rates for £1 sterling as follows:

57.75	Belgian Francs
10.21	Danish Kroner
8.425	French Francs
3.6575	Deutschmarks
1,625	Italian Lira
61	Luxembourg Francs
4	Dutch guilders

* Zone A refers to the County Borough of Cork, part of the Administrative County of Cork, the County Borough of Dublin and the Administrative County of Dublin and the Urban District of Bray. Zone B means all other areas.