I move that leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act, 1938. This Bill proposes to increase the salaries of Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries and officers of the Dáil and Seanad. The salaries of the Taoiseach and the Attorney-General will be increased under the Bill by 20 per cent., the salaries of Ministers and the Ceann Comhairle by 25 per cent. and the salaries of the Cathaoirleach, Leas - Chathaoirleach, Parliamentary Secretaries and Leas-Cheann Comhairle by 30 per cent.
Deputy Mulcahy and the Leaders of the various Parties have emphasised that they were not consulted regarding these measures and I am glad they have brought out that point. The Government, in the last few months, have introduced and put through various increases in salaries of servants of the State which they considered wise in the public interest. As the executive authority, it was their duty to propose and to put these through, and, before arriving at that conclusion, they did not consult the members of the Opposition about them. I thought it was advisable, when the Government decided to make these proposals to the Dáil, and as the Taoiseach had answered a Parliamentary question on the matter a couple of weeks ago, to give certain essential particulars of the proposed legislation to the papers, so that they would know what the Bills were about when notification of their First Reading was given. It is the Government's duty in the public interest to make such proposals, from time to time as they think wise, and the Government have decided that it is in the public interest that the salaries of the officers in this Bill and in the other Bills should be increased by the amounts I have indicated.
The salaries and allowances of these officers and of members of the Dáil and Seanad were fixed as far back as 1938. I do not want to make a Second Reading speech on this matter, but the calculations made by Deputy Mulcahy to-day that the allowances of members of the Dáil and Seanad are as good now as they were then is somewhat new in debates on increases of salaries and Government expenses generally. In this matter, the Government have decided that it is in the public interest to make these proposals and, having arrived a that decision, they do not propose to shirk carrying it out. As the Government responsible for making propositions in the public interest, they do not propose to share their responsibility with the Opposition.
