asked the Minister for Local Government whether he is aware that Timothy Murray, a permanent official of the Dunmanway Board of Guardians and Rural Council (Co. Cork), was dismissed at a secret meeting of the above bodies in 1921; that Murray got no notice of such meeting, that he is now, with his wife and twelve children, in very poor circumstances, and whether, in view of his service of nine years, the Minister will have his case further inquired into, with a view to the granting to Murray some compensation?
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - DISMISSAL OF DUNMANWAY POOR LAW OFFICIAL.
It appears that at a meeting of the Guardians held on the 18th December, 1920, it was decided to dispense with Mr. Murray's services. I have no information as to whether the meeting was secret, as to the notice given of the intention to hold it, or of the circumstances of the family. It seems that Mr. Murray was employed and paid personally by the Clerk for acting as his assistant, and that he also acted as a temporary messenger. I am informed that there is no record of his having been appointed officially by either local body. He could not, therefore, be regarded as a permanent official, and as he did not hold a pensionable post, he is not legally entitled to compensation.
Mr. MURPHY
Is the Minister aware that when Murray was appointed he signed the Query Forms that were sent out by the Local Government Board; and that the members of the Council who were in office at the time he was appointed are prepared to make sworn affidavits that he was permanently appointed by the Local Government Board; and is he aware also that Murray makes the charge that the minutes of the Council were deliberately cooked in order to put him in a wrong position in connection with his appointment?
I am not aware of that. So far as I am concerned, the only information I have is that he was appointed as a temporary messenger by the Clerk. That is the only official information.
Mr. MURPHY
If information such as I have outlined were supplied to the Minister, will he promise to have an investigation into the facts?
Certainly.