asked the Minister for Agriculture his reasons for declining to sponsor legislative proposals to give the Agricultural Wages Board the same powers in relation to the fixing of wages, and the regulation of conditions of employment, as apply to all other statutory wage-fixing bodies in the State.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Agricultural Wages Board.
13.
As I explained in my statement to the Dáil on the 5th December last during the debate on the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill, 1962, conditions in agriculture differ in many respects from those in industry. The assimilation of legislation relating to these two different kinds of employment would not, therefore, be appropriate.
14.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if the words "economic position of farming", mentioned in a reply of 6th March, 1963, relating to the Agricultural Wages Board, relate to the economic position of farming on farms (a) which employ hired labour, (b) generally, or (c) which employ no hired labour.
The words relate to the economic position of farming generally including, of course, the position on farms where hired labour is employed.
Is the Minister aware that the Wages Board have taken into account the statement here that the economic position of farming must be considered where wage fixing for farm workers is concerned? Can he explain how that can be taken into account where no farm labourers are employed?
The position of the industry as a whole has to be taken into account by sensible people who sit down to make a fair examination of this whole matter and arrive at a fair decision.
I am talking about the Wages Board; I am not talking about sensible people.
I am talking about the Wages Board's responsibility in the fixing of wages and the necessity for any such board to have a look at what the overall economic position of farming is.
If it can be proved that only farms over a certain acreage employ hired labour, surely the Minister would agree that it is unfair to take into account the income from farms where no hired labour is employed for the purpose of fixing wages for farm workers?
As far as I know, labour is employed to some extent or other on farms of every size.
The Minister must not have been reading the National Farm Survey.
I did.