§ MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether the promise made last year has been fulfilled in reviewing the rates of wages paid to the labourers and mechanics employed by the Board of Works (Ireland); and whether it is intended to grant these employees an immediate increase of wages.
(Answered by Mr. Hobhouse.) I presume that the hon. Member refers to the Answer given by my predecessor to the hon. Member for North Down on 25th March, 1907. The inquiry promised by him has been made and has shown that the employees of the Board of Works are paid at wages equal to or in excess of the rate current in the district, except in a few cases in which men, who are from age or other causes not fully efficient, have been 29 kept on. There is no intention of increasing the wages of the Board of Works employees.