asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will state whether he is aware that instructions have been issued to the staff under his control in the Custom House to discontinue the crusade of rosaries being held there after official hours; and, if so, if the instructions were issued with his approval and the reasons for them.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Recitation of Rosary.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether his attention has been directed to an article which appeared in the issue of a weekly newspaper for November 14th, 1952, indicating that the recital of the Rosary, for world peace, after office hours in the annexe of the Custom House. Dublin, by officers of the Department of Social Welfare, has been prohibited: whether any instructions prohibiting the recital of the Rosary in the office were issued with the authority of the Government; whether, if the instructions were not issued with Government approval, he will state the name and rank of the officer who issued the instructions, and what action the Government proposes to take in the matter.
I propose with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to answer Questions Nos. 19 and 20 together.
The direction referred to was issued in the normal course of his duties by the secretary of my Department under practice of long standing concerning the use of official premises for purposes other than official business without the express permission of the head of the Department or his responsible deputy. There is an established procedure by which an appeal may be made to the Minister for the reconsideration of any decision taken at official level on matters of this kind but no appeal has been made to me. I became aware of the position when my attention was directed to the newspaper article mentioned in Deputy Norton's question.
I must deprecate the action of those who were concerned to seek newspaper publicity instead of availing of the normal official procedure.
Permission to use departmental premises for purposes other than official business has occasionally been conceded by an officer responsible when the requirements of the public service so permitted. If permission is not allowed in any case for reasons which appear adequate to the responsible officer an appeal may be made to the Minister but, as I have stated, I have not been approached in this instance. If and when the officers who desire to be allowed to use departmental premises for the purpose indicated in the questions bring their request before me by the normal method it will be my duty to deal with the matter having regard to the considerations by which the question of the use of State buildings for other than official purposes is determined.
Is the Minister aware of the fact that it is common practice to permit meetings of the staff to be held on official premises and to permit lectures to be given after hours on official premises? If these practices are authorised by the Minister and generally approved of by the State because they do no harm whatsoever, will the Minister state on what grounds he proposes to justify the prohibition of the recitation of the Rosary after office hours in a Department?
The case was not put to me.
Is the Minister not aware of the fact now that an official of his Department has prohibited the recitation of the Rosary in his Department though it is possible at the moment to hold lectures and meetings for other purposes in the Department? Surely the prohibition ought not to have operated without some direct sanction from or consideration of the matter by the Minister or the Government before the issue of the prohibition?
I think the Deputy is under a misapprehension. Where lectures and meetings are held, they are held with the authority of the head of the Department. In the present instance his authority had not been obtained and that was the reason for the prohibition. These things must not be done without obtaining a certain authority.
May I put this point to the Minister? Let us approach this matter in a sensible way. The recitation of the Rosary cannot be put on a par with the holding of a lecture.
It was the Deputy himself who put it on that par. I did not do so.
Do not get heated about it. I will raise this on the Adjournment if I do not get attention now.
(Interruptions.)
Order.
In this particular instance it was known in the Department that the Rosary was being recited. An official of the Department prohibited the recitation of the Rosary in accordance with some punctilio that is operated in the Department in respect of such gatherings. Before the prohibition issued surely the official concerned ought to have sought the Minister's advice as to whether the Rosary would or would not be prohibited. Can the Minister tell the House that he feels justified in regarding the recitation of the Rosary in the same light as any ordinary function in the Department and why did he prohibit the recitation of the Rosary?
The secretary of my Department carried out his ordinary duty of stopping any unauthorised meeting held without his permission. That is all that was done.
A new definition of the Rosary—an unauthorised meeting. That was the Minister's description.
(Interruptions.)
Order!
Might I ask the Minister, arising out of his reply, if he is aware that the recitation of the Rosary in the Custom House was for world peace and whether he is aware of the fact that a high-ranking officer of his Department asked that the Rosary be offered for another intention with the result that a number of civil servants would not participate in the recitation of the Rosary for this intention and the recitation of the Rosary was then clamped down on? That is the reason it was stopped. There was no other reason.