§ Mr. BYRNEasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that there are 3,000 names on the books of the City of Dublin Distress Committee and 3,000 names on the Labour Bureaux of Dublin; and if he will approach the Treasury for a Grant for the relief of distress in Dublin?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI am informed that the number of names on the books of the Dublin Distress Committee is 531 men and 561 women. The actual number of names on the books of the Labour Exchange on the 11th February is 2,885–1,367 men, 1,248 women, 144 boys, and 126 girls. The Local Government Board are in communication with the Ministry of Munitions with a view to an extension of war work in Ireland to absorb present unemployment, but the Treasury have decided that no Grants can be made to distress committees this year in any part of the United Kingdom.