§ 23. Mr. C. WHITEasked the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been called to the action of the D.P. Battery Company, Bakewell, who, when discharging men from their employ, almost invariably make complaints against them to the Employment Exchanges of misconduct; whether, in all these cases, the charges have been found by the court of referees to be quite unfounded; and whether, as in these cases a considerable amount of expense is incurred by the State, he will take such steps as are necessary to put an end to this practice?
§ The MINISTER of LABOUR (Dr. Macnamara)The complaints referred to are, I presume, the replies made by the firm to the inquiry which is invariably made by my Department as to the reason why an applicant for benefit lost his last employment, and which is an essential step for safeguarding the Unemployment Fund. I have no reason to suppose that these replies have been given by the firm otherwise than in good faith. In certain cases on which an appeal from the insurance officer's decision was made to the court of referees, but not in all, the 394 decision of the court was that the ground of discharge was not such as to disqualify the applicant for benefit.
§ Dr. MACNAMARASpeaking quite offhand, I think it was five or six out of eight.