8. Major NEWMANasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he can give the composition of the Naval and Military Canteen Board in Ireland; does this Board exercise sole powers in the appointment of inspectors; will he say who selects the actual staff employed in each canteen; have the competent Naval and Military authorities any voice in the management and staffing of these canteens; and are the canteens themselves the property of any particular firm or firms, and run as profit-making concerns for their owners?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONThe composition of the Navy and Army Canteen Board in Ireland is exactly the same as that of the Navy and Army Canteen Board in other parts of the United Kingdom, and has been sanctioned by the Army Council.
The Board have the sole right of the appointment of their inspectors. The actual staff employed in each canteen are selected by the Board's representative in that part of the country in which the canteen is situated.
The competent naval and military authorities are members of the Navy and Army Canteen Board, and the canteens themselves are the property of the War Department or the Navy and Army Canteen Board, and are conducted by the Navy and Army Canteen Board for the benefit of the Services, in accordance with the instructions of the Admiralty, Army Council, and Air Ministry.
§ Colonel McCALMONTTo whom is the Board responsible?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONTo the War Office.