§ MR. FIELDTo ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether he can state under what circumstances machinery for printing and the printers working the machinery have been removed from the Ordnance Survey, Dublin, to Southampton for the purpose of printing Irish maps at Southampton; what is the cost of conveyance of the maps from Southampton to Dublin; whether he will inquire if it would not tend towards economy to have the work done in Ireland; whether he can state under what circumstances is the revision of the county Dublin being done by the Derby field section and being sent to Southampton for completion; whether this work could be done in Ireland by the Irish staff; and what was the cost of conveyance of the Derby Division field section to Dublin.
(Answered by Sir Edward Strachey.) On the completion of the one-inch map of Ireland there was not sufficient colour work left fully to employ the colour-printing press at Dublin, and such removals as were made wore carried out with a view to economy in colour-printing, but neither printers nor printing machines were removed to Southampton for the express purpose of printing Irish maps there. The cost of the conveyance of maps, etc., from Southampton to Dublin amounts approximately to £50 a year. It would cost about the same amount to send paper to Dublin for printing there, and no economy could be effected by the arrangement suggested. The Derby Division is not engaged on the Survey of Ireland, but in view of the breaking up of that division by the end of this year endeavour has been made, as far as possible, to find work for some of the surveyors attached to that division after the completion of their work in England. The section transferred to county Dublin, consisting of four men, has become part of the Dublin Division. The cost of conveying the section to county Dublin was about £3.