asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he will state if labour required by the alcohol factories is recruited through the employment exchanges, and, if not, whether he will state what is the actual method of recruitment.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - The Alcohol Factories.
The staff required for the opening production campaign at the industrial alcohol factories was recruited in consultation with the nearest employment exchanges. It was, however, found impracticable to confine the selection rigidly to the names on the employment exchange register because of (a) the distance—as much as 15 miles in one instance and 11 in another—between the factories and the exchanges, and (b) the desirability of securing for the initial working period key workers who, during the building and equipment operations, had acquired some knowledge of the plants and the process of manufacture. The same considerations apply in the recruitment of staff for the second campaign which is about to begin, and the method adopted has been to invite applications by public notices posted in the factory areas. Applicants are interviewed by the local master distiller, and the most suitable are selected by him, subject to the approval of the managing director. The practice is— other things being equal—to give preference to local applicants with families.
Is the Minister aware that one employee of the alcohol factory at Carrickmacross was dismissed from his employment in that factory on the ground that he was not a supporter of the Fianna Fáil Party; and is he further aware that I have furnished his Department with full particulars of that case and nothing has been done, even to inquire into it?
The answers to the three parts of the Deputy's supplementary question are in the negative.
Will the Minister now find out what papers are in his Department, if he does not already know, and, having found out what he ought to know, will he make the inquiries that he should have made long ago?
The answers to all parts of the Deputy's further question are in the negative.