As the Minister for Agriculture has indicated that he intends to oppose this Bill, it is necessary to make some brief remarks as to the necessity for its introduction.
When the Agricultural Workers (Weekly Half-Holiday) Bill was put into operation on July 3 of last year it was welcomed by every agricultural labourer. As far as some farmers were concerned, I think I might say it was generally accepted and these farmers accepted their obligations under the Bill. It is necessary, however, to introduce an amending Bill to meet some of the difficulties which were experienced as far as the agricultural labourer is concerned. I do not think the Minister or Dáil Éireann will say other than that it was the clear intention of this House and the clear intention of the Seanad to provide a weekly half-holiday for farm labourers. Some unscrupulous farmers took advantage of the fact that the agricultural labourer could not easily enforce his right under that particular Bill. That is one of the chief defects that the amending Bill proposes to remedy.
I do not think there is any necessity for me to dwell at length on the necessity for giving, in present circumstances, a weekly half-holiday to the agricultural labourer. The Minister and every member of the Cabinet from the Taoiseach down are loud in their exhortations to the farming community to increase production. The farmers, to an extent, are offered incentives by way of fair prices, increased prices, subsidies and other things from time to time, but as far as the farm labourer is concerned there is as yet no indication from the Government that they will provide any sort of incentive to him to increase production or to remain on the land. Down through the years the complaint has been that workers are fleeing the land. Farmers bemoan the fact that agricultural labour is scarce. Yet these same farmers are not prepared to offer any inducement or even the ordinary human rights to the workers. I suggest, therefore, that if Dáil Éireann accepts this amending Bill and makes cast-iron the right of the agricultural labourer to get a half-holiday during the week it will go some part of the way towards increasing agricultural production.
I said in the beginning that many farmers gave the half-holiday during the week to their farm labourers. Other unscrupulous farmers, not recognising their obligations under the Act, did not because they realised that it would be difficult for the farm labourer to demand his right or to enforce it. Under the Act the farm labourer must take the farmer to court to assert his right. That is an unpleasant task. I venture to suggest that, if he did take that course, the consequences might be unpleasant. I know of cases, and I am sure other Deputies know of cases, where the farm labourer sought his week's holiday from the farmer and where the farmer found some pretext to dismiss him. Similarly, as far as the weekly half-holiday is concerned it has happened where the labourer asked for or demanded it, that the farmer, while not refusing it in so many words, sacked the labourer on some pretext or other, if not on that particular day on some day of the next week.
