asked the Minister for Defence if he is now in a position to give a clear indication as to when the long service medal will be issued as some Old I.R.A. men with over 24 years' service are now over eight years waiting for the issue of this medal.

Issues of the service medal will commence not later than March, 1954. An advertisement inviting applications for the medal by personnel who were transferred to the reserve, or discharged before 30th September, 1953, will be published in the immediate future.