Vol. 418 No. 1
16 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for Defence if he will outline, (a) the number of civilian employees of his Department engaged in the Curragh, County Kildare, (b) the number of these persons employed in a temporary capacity and (c) the average length of service of each of the temporary employees.
There are 290 civilian employees engaged with the Defence Forces in the Curragh, County Kidlare, of whom 20 are employed in a temporary capacity. The average length of service of the temporary employees is nine months.
Would the Minister comment on the possibility of converting 20 temporary employees serving an average of nine months into a number of permanent employees? Could the Minister indicate the duties that average nine months occupation?
There is a seasonal element in this. The majority of the temporary employees are boiler men/stokers and they are engaged in the heating season and not when the summer sun is shining over the Curragh of Kildare.
We would not like to have the boilers working when the sun is shining. Of the 20 temporary employees with an average service of nine months, how many are on their second or third period of temporary engagement for six months? The arithmetic must mean that at least some of them are on their second or third tour.
I have a schedule here which is as long as my arm, outlining the tasks performed by the employees in a permanent capacity in the Curragh Camp. I do not intend to go through it. The figure for craftsmen includes auto electricians, blacksmiths, bricklayers, carpenters, chargehands, electricians, fitters, fitter mechanics, fitter turners, mechanics, painters, plasterers, plumbers, sheet metal workers and welders.
The Minister might consider circulating that list in the Official Report and he might consider circulating a similar list of the 20 temporary persons who are on six months engagement and have an average service of nine months, which is rather intriguing. Does the Minister envisage that all the 290 civilian employers in the Curragh will remain in the Curragh, or has the Minister plans to move any of their employment elsewhere?
There is another question down about that, but I have no intention of moving them and there is no provision in the 1992 Defence Estimate for the engagement of any additional temporary civilian employees.
I am delighted to hear that the Minister is not moving them.
