asked the Minister for Labour if he will arrange for the publication of a booklet setting out the legal entitlements of employees under the various Acts affecting conditions of employment, safety etc.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Entitlements of Employees.
33.
A handbook on the Factories Act, 1955, is on sale and a revised edition is at present being prepared for publication. A handbook on the Office Premises Act, 1958, is in course of preparation and will be on sale fairly soon. A summary of the main provisions of the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1961, is available free of charge from my Department.
As far as the Conditions of Employment Acts and the Shops (Conditions of Employment) Acts are concerned, the original Acts were passed in 1936 and 1938 respectively. I have already announced that a revision is being undertaken by my Department of measures which have been on the Statute Book for a considerable number of years. I shall consider the Deputy's suggestion in relation to this revision.
The Minister is considering including in one booklet all the things to which he and I have referred, I in my question and he in his answer?
I intend to get information out. I am not so sure that a publication would remain simply a booklet, if all that information were contained in it. It could be a very big book. It is possible that a person looking for information in one line should not have to buy a whole book containing a great deal of information that would be of no interest to him.
The Minister would agree that a booklet would be very useful to such people as branch secretaries of trade unions, shop stewards— something on the lines of the booklet issued annually by the Minister for Social Welfare?
There are always looking for such information.
I will consider it. It is just a point that occurred to me when replying to the question, that if all this information were contained in one booklet, the booklet might be rather big. I will consult with the people who will be using it.
Do that. Even before making speeches, the Minister should do it.