§ Mr. FIELDasked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he has received a petition from the employés in the levelling department. of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland; whether they will be continued in their employment; whether, although there is ample work for years to come for the present staff, some of them have received notice from their authorities terminating their employment; and whether, in view of the fact that the work upon which they are engaged is technical and important they will receive some security as to their future employment?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANMy hon. Friend has forwarded to me a petition addressed to himself and certain other hon. Members by nineteen persons employed in the levelling department of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland. The wording of the petition is incorrect and misleading. Of the nineteen petitioners five are temporary Civil assistants, and fourteen are labourers. There is no intention of discharging the temporary Civil assistants, unless their discharge should in the future be necessary 1771W on account of inefficiency. They receive on an average 37s. a week, not 22s., as is stated in the petition. The contouring in Ireland is approaching completion, and the Director-General of Ordnance Survey has taken considerable trouble to find other work for the temporary Civil assistants displaced, with the result that all have now been provided for. Of the fourteen labourers who signed the petition, one has applied to be discharged on reduction, one is under notice of discharge on reduction, and the remaining twelve are not under any notice of discharge. So long as there is sufficient work for them to do they will probably be continued in their employment, provided that their conduct and character are satisfactory.