§ MR. WILLIAM O'BRIEN (Cork)To ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that, although artisans and labourers employed at the Cork barracks have not technically been dismissed by 654 the military authorities, they have been discharged by the triennial contractors, owing to the military authorities having allotted to the field company of the Royal Engineers a large proportion of the incidental work hitherto executed by civilian workmen; whether the field company would be sufficiently employed on field works at Moore Park and Kilworth camp, without taking the places of Cork working men at reduced wages; and whether the War Office, having pledged themselves to aid in coping with unemployment, they will withdraw these soldiers from competition with civilian workers at rates of pay inconsistent with the Fair Wages Resolution of this House.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) The triennial contractor has given the military authorities no information on the subject of discharging men, nor has he made any complaint about the employment of men of the Royal Engineers. It appears on inquiry that an extra number of hands have been recently employed by the contractor to complete arrears of work, and that the probable difference of employment caused by employing the Royal Engineers on their recognised work will in the long run be small. The company in question could not be employed at Moor Park or Kilworth, as there is no accommodation for them at those places.