§ Mr. DONOVANasked the Chief Secretary whether one of the ten areas into which Ireland is being divided for furnishing quotas in connection with the 50,000 recruits sought to be obtained by voluntary recruiting before the 1st October next is made up of the counties of Antrim and Down, including the city of Belfast; whether, in joining the rural districts of Antrim and Down with the city of Belfast, the quota is taken for the area as a whole or whether a separate and fixed quota is to be taken for the city of Belfast as distinct from the rural counties of Antrim and Down; on what basis and by whom have the quotas been fixed; whether the percentage of exemptions being allocated for reserved occupations in connection with war work in Belfast, when deducted from the aggregate population of Antrim and Down, including Belfast, materially diminishes the quota properly contributable by the counties of Antrim and Down and gives these counties an unfair advantage as compared with other Irish counties; whether his attention has been drawn to a speech of Mr. Henry M'Loughlin, a member of the Irish Voluntary Recruiting Council, delivered before the Down County Council in Belfast on 19th July, wherein he declared that Belfast and Ulster had not given their fair quota during the last eighteen months to keeping up the reserved battalions of the 29th Ulster Division because the division had to be made up very largely from Englishmen and Scotsmen and some battalions had to be disbanded; whether the voluntary recruiting returns for this 1370W period from Dublin and Cork relatively on the basis of population were materially-larger than those of Belfast; whether he is aware that upwards of 50,000 men of military age paraded in the Orange celebrations in Belfast on the 12th July last; and whether, before deciding what quota Belfast and the counties of Antrim and Down should contribute as compared with the rest of Ireland, an investigation by some impartial body of the true position and contribution requisite from the city of Belfast and the counties of Antrim and Down will be made?
§ Mr. SHORTTThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. Belfast city and the counties of Antrim and Down being considered as one area both for recruiting and quota purposes. The Recruiting Council have the benefit and advice of the Ministry of National Service for fixing area quotas, which will be based on the figures supplied by the Registrar-General. Due consideration will be given to the essential war industries, food production activities, and relative population, as well as to the number of men already recruited, so that no unfair advantage could accrue to any area. Mr. M'Loughlin's speech appears to be correctly quoted in the question. I have not the information as to whether the voluntary recruiting returns for the period referred to from Dublin and Cork relatively on the basis of population were materially larger than those of Belfast, but if the hon. Member presses for it I will endeavour to obtain it. I am not aware of the number of men of military age who paraded in Belfast on the occasion referred to. I see no reason for the investigation suggested in the last part of the question.