asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether he will, as requested by the Association of Branch Managers of employment exchanges, discontinue the downgrading of offices, and abolish class 1 and special offices.

10.

asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether he will, as requested by the Association of Branch Managers, grant to the branch managers of employment exchanges an allowance for children similar to that paid to civil servants.

11.

asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether, in view of the high cost of the upkeep of employment exchanges, he will make an allowance towards the rent of offices to the managers of these exchanges.

12.

asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will provide for clerical assistance for the branch managers of employment exchanges as follows: one assistant in the case of grades 2 and 3 offices, and two assistants in the case of grade 4 offices.

13.

asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether he will grant to the branch managers of employment exchanges a retiring gratuity of one twentieth of salary for every year of service, in view of the poor superannuation position of these managers as compared with other State officials.

I propose, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 together.

Representations on the matters which are the subject of these questions were received in my Department from the Association of Branch Managers and are at present under consideration. I am not yet in a position to give a decision on these matters but hope to be able to do so in the near future.

Will the Minister be able to announce a decision on these matters in the course of his speech on the Estimate?

I do not think so.

Is it possible that a decision will be announced before the Dáil dissolves?

I would say not.

So it takes the Minister about two years to consider these claims on behalf of the employees of his Department and now they must wait until the election is over before they get a decision. Is that the position?

That is not the position. I am merely saying the matter is under consideration and that it is a very difficult matter to decide.

The Deputy did nothing about it.

The Parliamentary Secretary does not know his own mind. He is a candidate one day and not a candidate the next.

What I said does not suit.

Order.

The Parliamentary Secretary is a candidate on Monday; he is retiring on Tuesday and he is a candidate again on Wednesday.

That does not arise at all. What I said does not suit the Deputy. He did nothing whatever for the branch managers.