§ MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN (Kilkenny)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the inconvenience and loss that may result to Ire- 67 land by having the Irish Militia Regiments in England while their labour is needed during the harvest in Ireland, he will consider the desirability of either disbanding them or giving them leave to return to Ireland to assist at the harvesting.
§ * MR. WYNDHAMInstructions were issued on the 6th June to the general officers commanding in the United Kingdom that militiamen belonging to units embodied before the 6th March might be given furlough if they had satisfactorily completed their training and could be spared. The Secretary of State would have been glad to assent to a more general release of the Militia, both in the interests of the men themselves and in view of the widespread demand for labour, but, having regard to present circumstances, he has come to the conclusion that general leave or disembodiment would be inexpedient.