asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will make a statement on the dispute which has arisen with civil servants in his Department resulting in the picketing of his Department's offices and the danger that occupational injuries benefits and disability allowances may not be paid in consequence.
Private Notice Question: - Civil Service Dispute.
The Minister has been served with notice by the Civil and Public Services Staff Association that as from Thursday, 15th May, 1975 its members consider themselves to be in dispute with him concerning the accommodation provided at the Department's headquarters offices in Áras Mhic Dhiarmada, Store Street, Dublin. The Minister has been informed that restricted pickets will be placed on Áras Mhic Dhiarmada and on two adjacent public offices in Store Street on the morning of 15th May and on each successive Thursday morning until the executive committee of the association reviews the position or until its complaints are resolved. The notice states that the pickets will preclude members of the association from attending for duty before 2 p.m. on the days in question. The staff in Áras Mhic Dhiarmada represented by the association comprise mainly officers in the general service grades of clerical assistant, clerical officer and staff officer.
If the action threatened by the Civil and Public Services Staff Association is proceeded with the inevitable effect will be that the issue of benefit cheques to certain people who are claiming disability benefit and occupational injuries benefit will be delayed. Persons who would normally expect to receive their benefit cheques on the morning of Friday, 16th May may not receive them until Friday afternoon in the Dublin area or until Saturday morning in areas where there are postal deliveries on that day. In some few cases it is possible that cheques may not be delivered until the following Monday.
Callers to the Department's public office in Store Street on Thursday morning may also be inconvenienced.
The Minister is greatly concerned by the effect which this action of the association will have on persons entitled to benefit payments and to persons wishing to contact the Department's offices in Store Street. He wishes to assure all social welfare beneficiaries concerned that every possible effort will be made to minimise the effect of the association's action.
Steps were taken by the Department as long ago as 1971 to improve the accommodation position when some sections of the Department were transferred from Áras Mhic Dhiarmada to new accommodation at Phibsboro' Tower and since 1973 a total of over 500 officials were transferred from Áras Mhic Dhiarmada to new accommodation at D'Olier House, D'Olier Street, and Oisin House, Pearse Street.
In April, 1974, a deputation from the executive committee of the Civil and Public Services Staff Association was informed by the Minister of the impending transfer of staff to Oisin House as soon as the accommodation there was ready for occupation and he also indicated further measures which were then in train designed to improve working conditions in Áras Mhic Dhiarmada. These improvements included brightening of the interior of the offices, the application of solar heat reflecting film to the window panes and of reflecting paint on part of the roof. It was on that occasion that the general secretary of the association stated that in his opinion the building was not and never would be suitable as offices and demanded that it should be vacated. The improvements then indicated by the Minister have since been carried out or are in actual course of completion. Moreover, following the transfer of a staff of 130 officials to Oisin House in September, 1974, the staff remaining in Áras Mhic Dhiarmada were re-located to better advantage and this process is continuing as certain necessary items of equipment and furniture become available.
Finally, as the general secretary of the association is fully aware, still further office accommodation has been sought by the Department, which should be ready for occupation in a few months' time. The total staff of Áras Mhic Dhiarmada will then be in the neighbourhood of 800 only as compared with the present total of 940—it was 1,040 in 1973—and working conditions then should, by any standards, be entirely satisfactory. There can, of course, be no question of entirely vacating the building as demanded by the association.
Since the meeting with the Minister on 30th April, 1974, the association has not sought any further discussion with the Minister or his Parliamentary Secretary in the matter.
Can the Parliamentary Secretary state whether this is the first strike in the history of the Civil Service and of the nation? The Parliamentary Secretary mentioned that the association and the Minister had talks on 30th April, 1974, and that the association has not contacted the Parliamentary Secretary or the Minister. Did the Minister or the Parliamentary Secretary make any effort to contact the association? What negotiations, if any, took place to prevent this strike which will have very severe effects on people who will not receive their entitlements?
I do not know whether or not there have been previous disputes involving civil servants. As regards the meeting on 30th April, 1974, this meeting was at the request of the association. On receiving that request, the Minister convened a meeting in a very short time. A full discussion took place at that meeting and it was explained that the Minister was concerned about accommodation and working conditions of the staff in the Department of Social Welfare and indicated that we were in the course of completing negotiations for Oisin House as additional accommodation. Oisin House has now been occupied by the Department of Social Welfare and this has relieved any overcrowding that might have occurred in Áras Mhic Dhiarmada. The demand of the general secretary of the association is for the vacating of Áras Mhic Dhiarmada. As I indicated in my reply, it is not possible to comply with this demand. The Minister indicated at the meeting in April, 1974, that he was and would be available to meet the staff association on any occasion that they requested such a meeting. Quite frankly, I was somewhat surprised personally that the only communication the Minister or myself received from the association or its general secretary since that meeting was a communication which indicated a week's strike notice.
The Parliamentary Secretary will appreciate that this is a very serious matter and that since 30th April, 1974, some negotiations between the Parliamentary Secretary, the Minister and the association should have taken place? Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that the persons most affected by this strike are new or short term cases whose finances are disrupted because of sudden illness or injury and what provision, if any, is he making for those individuals who are short of cash and just cannot continue? Will the Parliamentary Secretary say what provision he intends to make for those people apart from the other 7,500 to 10,000 people who are also affected?
As the Minister indicated in reply to the Deputy's special notice question, every possible effort will be made to minimise the effects on recipients of social welfare as a result of the action proposed to be taken by the association. The Minister is extremely concerned lest any hardship should be caused but everything possible is being done so as to ensure the absolute minimum delay in the issuing of cheques. However, the Deputy will appreciate that if a stoppage occurs it will be impossible to ensure that there will not be delays in some cases.
What steps are being taken to minimise hardship? Even at this late stage would the Parliamentary Secretary and the Minister contact the association concerned in order to try to avoid this very serious strike and its consequences?
The Deputy is aware that those who would be affected by a stoppage of the workers concerned would be those least able to endure delays in receipt of benefits. The Deputy knows, also, that I have some experience of industrial relations. I understand that the demand of the general secretary of the association concerned is that Áras Mhic Dhiarmada be vacated but it is not possible to meet such a demand. To indicate a willingness to take action might appear to the organisation concerned as meaning that the demand was being met. As was pointed out in the original reply, all the improvements sought at the meeting held in April, 1974 have either been met or are in the course of being met. The general secretary of the association is aware that apart from D'Olier House and Oisín House, both of which are now occupied, we are in the course of negotiating for additional office premises.
It would not further the interest of anyone concerned inadvertently to mislead the association into believing that an impossible demand could be met but it is only fair to point out that, when speaking to the association in April, 1974, the Minister indicated that he is available at any time to discuss any matter which the association may wish to have aired.
In view of the seriousness of the situation, would the Minister for Labour intervene in this dispute between his colleagues, the Minister for Social Welfare and the Parliamentary Secretary——
This question is to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Welfare. We cannot switch to another Minister.
May I ask a question?
I have given Deputy Andrews a lot of latitude on this question.
My question is being put with a view to helping the people concerned. Assuming that the strike will be prolonged and in order to ensure that social welfare recipients can obtain some benefits, would the Parliamentary Secretary, in consultation with the Minister for Health, consider the possibility of benefits being payable through the Eastern Health Board in order to ensure that people in dire need will not suffer undue hardship as was the case on the occasion of a dispute affecting the bus services?
Deputies should be conscious of the potential seriousness of this situation. As has been indicated clearly the strike notice concerns a series of half-day strikes on one day each week. These stoppages will cause some delay to certain categories of beneficiaries but I do not think any arrangements advocated or made not to counteract potential difficulties would be helpful in the circumstances.
One can only hope that the stoppages will not take place but, irrespective of what developments may occur, Deputies can rest assured that every effort will be made to minimise the effects for those people in receipt of social welfare payments.
Surely contact could be made without making the concession referred to.