asked the Minister for Finance if, in view of the refusal of his Department to allow claims for improved wages by employees of the Bourn Vincent Memorial Estate, Killarney, to be submitted to the Labour Court for arbitration, he will apply to these employees wage scales which have been determined by the Labour Court for similar employees employed by local authorities and others who have the right of hearing by the Court.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Wage Scales of Killarney Estate Workers.
16.
There is no question of refusal to allow claims of employees on the Bourn Vincent Memorial Estate, Killarney, to be submitted to the Labour Court. The position is that there is no provision in the Industrial Relations Act, 1946, under which the Labour Court was set up, by which claims of State employees can be determined by that Court. Employees on this Estate, with the exception of tradesmen who are paid the local trade union rates, are agricultural workers whose wages are determined by reference to rates prescribed by the Agricultural Wages Board. In all cases the wages of agricultural employees on the Bourn Vincent Memorial Estate are in excess of the minimum rates prescribed.