asked the Minister for Lands when the proposed Forestry Workers' Tribunal will be established.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Forestry Workers' Tribunal.
7.
The matter is still under consideration and I am not yet in a position to indicate when the proposed machinery will be established.
Is the Minister aware that when the bonus system was introduced for forestry workers a guarantee was given that, as soon as it applied to the forestry workers in the whole State, such a tribunal would be set up?
I am aware that a tribunal was contemplated to deal with wage disputes only. It is still under consideration, as I have informed the Deputy. There has been no urgent demand for it up to the moment.
The proposed tribunal is not for the purpose of dealing with wage disputes only. Numerous representations have been made by the trade unions concerned to have such a tribunal set up. There was a promise that it would be dealt with immediately. It is now almost twelve months since the last State forest introduced the bonus scheme and what is the cause of the delay?
An attempt has been made by the unions to suggest that this tribunal should deal with conditions of employment. May I quote, as follows, from the joint agreement made at the time of these proposals:
The Minister for Lands, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, is prepared to agree in principle that, following the wage structure changes now in question and the application of Incentive Bonus, arrangements will be made for reference of wage disputes affecting forestry labourers to an appropriate tribunal for an impartial recommendation which will not of course be binding. The Minister for Finance will determine later the appropriate machinery. The new machinery will not operate until the Incentive Bonus Scheme has been fully applied. In the meantime, wage negotiations can of course be pursued through the existing machinery.
What was contemplated was (1) machinery to deal with wage disputes only and (2) that the tribunal would not commence operations until the bonus scheme was applied to the whole country, which has only recently been achieved, as the Deputy is aware.