Day 174 - 17 Oct 95 - Page 54
1 MR. RAMPTON: Mrs. Norris as she now is, yes.
2
3 MR. MORRIS: Can someone who has a better copy say what it says
4 in the top left-hand corner? "This person" something or
5 other, "compensation". "This person" ----
6
7 MR. RAMPTON: -- "may claim compensation", could it be? That is
8 pure guesswork. It might be, I do not know.
9
10 MR. MORRIS: It does look like that.
11
12 MR. RAMPTON: It could be. We do not know.
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Thank you. You are expecting to see
15 Mr. North, are you, shortly?
16
17 MR. MORRIS: I am hoping. It is not guaranteed. There was
18 something else I was hoping to bring up.
19
20 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I am sorry, I have not finished if
21 Mr. Morris is starting on a new matter. Your Lordship
22 asked me to track down the origin of the pleading at (b) on
23 page 22 of this part of the abstract, where it says
24 "Ireland, Dublin 1978, 85p Irish per hour". Does your
25 Lordship remember that?
26
27 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
28
29 MR. RAMPTON: To cut a long paper chase short, what happened was
30 that the original pleading was that the rates of pay for
31 employees covered by the Wages Council are at or near the
32 minimum prescribed rates. After a number of requests for
33 particulars and answers, and so on, this was a response to
34 a request for particulars of the rates of pay relied on
35 which were alleged to fit that description. I do not think
36 there is any dispute that in Dublin at that time, and
37 certainly in 1979, or in Ireland, although Dublin I think
38 is probably an exception as it happens, 85p was the minimum
39 rate.
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Thank you.
42
43 MR. RAMPTON: The only other thing I may have to raise -- and it
44 is a weary old perennial, I am afraid -- is time tabling --
45 scheduling, that is to say. I am getting a bit concerned
46 that the only defendants' witnesses that I know about,
47 apart from the French people in November, are Mr. Whittle
48 tomorrow and Mr. Turnbull on Thursday. I do not even know
49 which days of the week Mr. Morris wants to call evidence
50 next week, let alone who the witnesses are.
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What is the situation? The sooner we know
53 about next week the better, because everyone has to make
54 arrangements. I said it should be at your option, but
55 people need to know. What is the situation now?
56
57 MR. MORRIS: The situation is that I had originally scheduled
58 Mr. Pearson there, but because of difficulties he has he
59 has now been moved back to 31st October and 1st November,
60 which means that I am trying to get somebody else or two
