§ 35. Colonel BALDWIN-WEBBasked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs if he is aware of the uncertainty among British civil servants who volunteered for service in the Irish Free State in the years 1921 onwards, as to whether their right of retirement (under Article 10 contained in the Second Schedule of the Irish Free State Constitution Act (Session 2), as supplemented by the agreement of 27th June, 1929) is affected by the proposal in the Saorstat Constitution Amendment (No. 18) Bill, 1932, to remove the oath and delete Clause 2 of the Schedule referred to above; and if the British Government intend to take back these officers into the United Kingdom services?
Mr. THOMASI am aware that the question has been raised whether Clause 2 of the Irish Free State Constitution (Removal of Oath) Bill affects, in law, the rights conferred by Article 10 of the Treaty, as interpreted and supplemented by the Agreement of 27th June, 1929, upon civil servants formerly in the United Kingdom Service who transferred to the Free State Service. I recognise the importance of the matter, but at the present stage premature for me to express an opinion.