§ MR. BAGWELLsaid, he wished to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether Her Majesty's Government propose to adopt the Resolution of the Select Committee of 1858, and place the Medical Officers of Irish Unions on the same footing as similar Officers in England and Scotland, one-half of whose salaries are paid from the Public Revenue?
MR. PEELsaid, he must remind the hon. Member that there were many matters of payment in which the two countries were not assimilated. He had no doubt that Ireland ought to obtain the same relief from local charges as the other portions of the United Kingdom; but, on looking at a particular charge of this nature, they must remember that Ireland possessed advantages in regard to other local charges. For example, the Constabulary, of whom in England the Government defrayed only one-fourth of the charge, whilst in Ireland the whole charge fell on the Consolidated Fund. Besides, there was a special grant of £20,000 for Irish Hospitals and County Infirmaries. He thought it could hardly have been the intention of the Committee that the charges alluded to by his hon. Friend should be defrayed out of a Parliamentary Grant; but, at the same time, he saw no reason why, if one-half the expenses of Medical Officers was paid in this country, the same arrangement should not hold good in Ireland.