§ 57. Mr. DONOVANasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that numbers of Irish officers and assistant officers in the Customs and Excise Department are being transferred to Great Britain; whether the object of such transference is to bring these men under the Military Service Act; whether the Board of Customs has the authority of the Government for calling on these Irish officers to enlist; and whether these Irish officers and assistant officers of the Customs and Excise Department are entitled to similar exemption to that given to Irishmen who enrol under the National Service Act and cross to Great Britain?
§ Mr. BALDWIN (Joint Financial Secretary to the Treasury)Officers of Customs and Excise are liable to serve in any part of the United Kingdom, and they are frequently transferred from one part to another. Some officers were recently removed from Ireland to Great Britain, but this was done without any intention of bringing them under the Military Service Act.
The Board of Customs have no authority to call on the particular officers referred to in the question, or on any other officer in their service, to enlist, nor have they any authority to decide whether any particular officer is liable for military 12 service or not. The case of the particular men referred to in the question would appear to be covered by an answer given by the Undersecretary for War to the hon. Member for Dublin Harbour on the 24th ultimo, to which I would refer the hon. Member. The Board have supplied a copy of that answer to all the officers recently transferred from Ireland.