asked the Minister for the Environment if the elimination of overtime working by operatives employed by Limerick Corporation can be attributed to the limited increase of 10 per cent in local authority rates and if further cutbacks in employment for these and other staff employed by the Corporation will result.

It is for the Limerick Corporation in their consideration of their estimate of expenses for 1980 to decide on the level and priority of each of their programmes of expenditure, including the employment costs. The limitation on rate increases applies to only one element of the corporation's finances while employment by the local authority depends on the size and make-up of the total expenditure.