asked the Taoiseach the weekly rates of pay, or estimated rates of pay, under the first phase of the 1979 National Understanding of agricultural workers, forestry workers and county council road workers, as at the proposed operative date of the employment regulation order for agricultural workers recently published by the Labour Court.

The following statement gives details for each county:

(a) the basic weekly rate of wages and the hourly equivalent of the basic weekly rate of wages paid to forestry workers for a 40-hour week. An incentive bonus is payable in addition to those rates, (b) weekly rates of wages and the hourly equivalent of the weekly rates—both excluding service pay—paid by county councils to road workers for a 40-hour week, (c) minimum weekly remuneration rates and the hourly equivalent of these rates payable to adult agricultural workers under the Employment Regulation Order (Agricultural Workers Joint Labour Committee) 1978, effective from 25 September 1978. These rates apply to a 40-hour week. No further such orders have been made since that date.

* The first phase of the National Understanding 1979 came into operation in Cork County on 1 April, 1979.

†A special pay increase of £7.60 per week was awarded before commencement of the present pay agreement.

‡The rates quoted, with the exception of those marked ‡ are inclusive of the £1.50 Productivity Agreement which came into effect on 1 October, 1978.

(i) Rate of £50.28 per week (£1.26 per hour) in the Urban District of Bray.

(ii) Rate of £49.86 per week (£1.25 per hour) in the Western portion of the County as defined in the Employment Regulation Order (Agricultural Workers Joint Labour Committee), 1978.

397.

asked the Minister for Finance the pay increases, in addition to the national agreements 1978 and 1979, paid to the categories of drainage workers listed in a reply to a similar question of 22 May 1979 and the operative dates.

As the reply is in the form of a tabular statement I propose, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to circulate it with the Official Report.

The information requested is as follows:

398.

asked the Minister for Finance the revised rates of pay of drainage workers under the national understanding 1979, and the amount of increase for each grade in the form of a reply to a similar question of 22 May 1979.

As the reply is in the form of a tabular statement I propose, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to circulate it with the Official Report.

The information requested is as follows:

Note: Owing to a reassessment of payments to boy labourers the initial point of the scale suffered a decrease. However, the final point gained by £23.06.