§ Mr. DEVLINasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the statement contained in the Report of 1909 of the medical officer of health for Belfast as to the difficulty of obtaining returns as to outworkers in the linen trade from their employers in Belfast; that some employers seek to evade their responsibilities under the Factory and Workshop Act of 1901 by ceasing to employ outworkers for a short period at 1st February and 1st August, when the lists are due, and that some attempts to send in false or insufficient lists were detected, one firm sending in a list giving only about 25 per cent. of the workers known by the inspector to be employed, and another firm giving incorrect names and addresses in the case of 80 per cent. of the workers employed by it; and, if so, what action he proposes to take in the matter?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLI am considering, in consultation with my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade, the best steps to take to obtain further information as to the conditions prevailing in the Belfast trade referred to in this question.