UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE (EIRE VOLUNTEERS) BILL. (Hansard, 29 October 1946)

THE EARL OF CORK AND ORRERY

My Lords, when this Bill was presented to the House for Second Reading by the noble Lord, Lord Chorley, he was good enough to make reference to myself in very pleasant terms, for which I thank him very much. I should also like to take this opportunity, on behalf of those who have been interested in the benefits to the Irish Volunteers, of offering any thanks to the Government as a whole, and particularly to the noble Viscount, the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs for his sympathetic attitude towards the whole matter.

I hope I shall not be considered ungrateful or ungenerous if I call the attention of the Government to one very small matter which I would urge them 819 to introduce into the Bill in order to consider whether it would not round off their generous action and remove all grounds for complaint or feelings of injustice. I have in my hand a small book entitled "Release and Resettlement," a copy of which was given to men on their release from the Services. Many clauses of this' book obviously cannot apply to those ex-Service men who went back to their homes in Ireland. For instance, you cannot give training for special subjects if you have not got the schools on the spot wherein to do it.

There is, however, one point I would like the Government to reconsider. I may not be entirely in order in mentioning this at the present time, but I do hope your Lordships will bear with me for a few moments. On page 33 there is a chapter headed "Resettlement Grants," and it begins like this: The Government have prepared a scheme, to come into operation after the end of the war in Europe, which will assist those who left businesses of their own for service in the Forces and need help to get going again. The scheme also applies, with certain conditions noted below, to those disabled by war service who were not previously in business. At the head of the chapter there is a picture of a nice little shop with the name "John Smith" over it. It has empty shelves in its windows, but in large letters right across are the words "Re-opening next week." The inference to be drawn is obvious: that Private John Smith, on getting back to his home town, will be able, with the assistance of resettlement grants, to reopen his little business and restock his shop. All I am asking is that Private Patrick Murphy, who came voluntarily from his country to help John Smith, should also be allowed to open his little business again when he gets back to his home town.

Some time ago I brought before the House the case of a man who applied to me from Cork for help. He had sold his cart and horse in September, 1939, left his wife and six children, and had gone up to Belfast to enlist. He was six years away and when he went back he applied for help. He received a very cold, official letter telling him he was not eligible as he lived in Southern Ireland. That case was looked into by the Soldiers', Sailors' and Airmen's Help Society. They found 820 the case to be perfectly genuine, and they are helping him now. Very shortly after this there appeared in the Daily Telegraph a letter from their correspondent in Palestine describing the Resettlement Scheme working in that country, and we were told that if a Palestinian, Arab or Jew, came back from Service with the Forces he could apply and get, if he proved his case to be a genuine one, an ass, a mule or a camel.

Comparison is said to be odious, so I will not make one at this stage. I can only suggest that the reason why the men in Southern Ireland were cut out was that it was considered that it might be difficult to dispense the benefits, and that a certain amount of defrauding of the Exchequer would take place. That is not the case. Last month I visited the British Legion and the Help Society headquarters in Cork. They are dealing with large numbers of these cases, and they told me that they would be only too glad to give all the help in their power to go into the various claims. Yesterday I attended a meeting of the executive committee of the Help Society where several of these cases came up. Some of them were extraordinarily worthy cases which these societies would help, but they cannot go on helping these men because their means are limited. I suggest that perhaps the Government might reconsider this matter and round off their generous attitude. Again, I would like to thank them very much for what they have done and, if I may presume to say so, congratulate them on their policy towards our sister island.