asked the Minister for Finance whether new scales of salary have been adopted in respect of any Civil Service appointments, and, if so, whether they have been put into operation; whether different scales have been adopted for (a) married and (b) unmarried men; and whether he will withhold the putting into operation of any such new scales until he shall have an opportunity of hearing what the Dáil may have to say on the matter of different scales for married and unmarried men.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - CIVIL SERVICE SALARY SCALES.
New scales of salary have recently been decided upon for the classes common to the whole Civil Service, including the Executive, Clerical and Shorthand and Typewriting Classes. The new scales, which do not affect substantive rights existing at the change of Government, are being applied in their new posts to officers, who since the change of Government received promotion on an acting basis to higher grades, and have also been applied to new appointees entering the grades by examination. The scales do not differentiate between married and unmarried men. The principle of remuneration on that basis is one towards which I am sympathetically inclined, and in connection with the kindred question of pay of women as compared with men, I had already given directions for the collection and examination of statistics in order to ascertain how a system based on this principle would work out in practice. The new scales now in force will not be a hindrance to introducing such a system of pay for future recruitment to the Service, if inquiry shows that it is practicable to apply it with advantage to the conditions of the Service in An Saorstát.
Can the Minister give any idea when this inquiry may be expected to finish?
It would be three or four months at least before we could have anything on which we could base an idea.
Will the Minister give an opportunity of having the matter discussed in the Dáil before any decision is taken?