§ DR. TANNERI beg to ask the Attorney General for Ireland whether he is aware that Francis C. Garvey, of Murrisk Abbey, Mayo, Ireland, who was appointed clerk of Petty Sessions for Louisburgh district by the Justices of said district, and also recently appointed Commissioner for taking affidavits by the present Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was dismissed his ship and the Service, he being then an officer in the Royal Navy, on a charge of larcency, and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment; and whether, in the face of the above-mentioned finding, he will be continued in the position of trust and emolument to which he has been appointed?
§ MR. MADDENThe Registrar of Petty Sessions Clerks reports that the Petty Session clerk mentioned admits the truth of the allegations, but pleads that the occurrences took place when he was but 16 years of age. Had the matter been brought under the notice of the Lord Lieutenant at the time, I have no doubt that he would have given it careful attention in deciding whether the appointment should be made. But as the Registrar reports that the conduct of the clerk since his appointment seven years ago has been good, and that the inspection and inquiries which have from time to time been made show him to be perfectly trustworthy, His Excellency, having regard to all the circumstances, would not feel justified in dismissing him from the position.
§ DR. TANNERAm I to understand that a person who has been dismissed from Her Majesty's Service for theft is regarded by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland as a fit or proper person to hold this appointment. Is he not retained simply because he is a Protestant and an Orangeman?
§ MR. MADDENAfter a service of seven years Mr. Garvey has proved to the heads of the Department that he is perfectly trustworthy, and it would not be right to go back upon matters which occurred so long before.