107. Mr. T. WILSONasked the Minister of Munitions whether he is making arrangements whereby workers in and on munition factories that are considerable distances from their homes can travel on the railways at cheap rates and so enable them to spend their Christmas and New Year's holiday with their families?
§ Sir W. EVANSArrangements have been made whereby cheap week-end tickets will be available for munitions workers covering the periods from Saturday, 23rd December, to Wednesday, 27th December, and from Saturday, 30th December, to Tuesday, 2nd January. Arrangements will also be made whereby these tickets will be available in the case of firms whose holidays do not exactly coincide with the dates already mentioned, subject to the proviso that no cheap weekend tickets will be issued after 31st December.
§ 108. Mr. BYRNEasked whether any arrangements have been made for Christmas holidays for munition workers; if any travelling arrangements for those desiring to go to their homes in Ireland have been made; and, if not, will special cheap excursion tickets be issued to men engaged on work of national importance?
§ Sir W. EVANSArrangements have been made whereby two additional days' holiday will be granted at 1465 Christmas to establishments engaged on munitions work, with some necessary exceptions due to military exigencies. These arrangements will also apply to New Year holidays in cases where New Year's Day is the recognised holiday. Railway tickets at reduced fares will be made available accordingly and these will be issued up to 31st December for munitions workers travelling from England and Scotland to ports in Ireland. Owing to the fact that the Irish railways have only been taken over by the Government in the last few days, it has not been found possible to make arrangements for special facilities on these railways.