With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 233 and 238 together.
An offer formulated by the Local Government Staff Negotiations Board, which would involve a pay increase of £7.60 per week for local authority general workers, other than certain specified categories and the introduction of an incremental scale for such workers was accepted by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions on 6 March 1980. Sanction was issued to local authorities on 23 April 1980 for the application of the pay increase and the introduction of an incremental scale, along the lines agreed, where individual local authorities so decide.
Details of the incremental scales emerging from the offer are not available in the Department.