§ 65. Mr. BUTCHERasked the Minister of National Service whether his attention has been called to the fact that there are in Ireland at the present time a number of men who have left their homes in England and Scotland and gone to Ireland for the purpose of avoiding military service; and what steps have been or are being taken to get these men back to this country to fulfil their obligations under the Military Service Acts?
§ The MINISTER of NATIONAL SERVICE (Sir Auckland Geddes)Full instructions were issued by the Army Council in May as to the procedure to be adopted for dealing with absentees under the Military Service Acts, 1916 and 1917, who had proceeded to Ireland for the purpose of evading their obligations under the Military Service Acts. A copy of the Instructions, Army Council Instruction No. 817, of the 19th May, 1917, may be seen in the Library. Action has been and is being taken under the Instruction, and in several cases men who had proceeded to Ireland have been brought to this country, and having been dealt with by a Court of summary jurisdiction, have been handed over to the military authorities.