§ MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick)To ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether ho is aware that the wages of the chainmen employed in the Irish field sections is less than the wages paid to men engaged in similar work by the headquarters division at Southampton; and whether he will consider the advisability of allowing those chainmen working field sections for a period of five years to be rated as skilled labourers.
(Answered by Sir Edward Strachey.) The wages paid to chainmen employed in field sections are the same in Ireland as in England. There are no men at Southampton engaged in similar work. The duties of a chainman in the field cannot properly be classed as skilled labour. They are in no way analogous to the various duties performed at Southampton by labourers who are rated as "skilled."