§ MR. BLAKEsaid, he wished to ask the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether he has any objection to state if the Irish Government in making appointments to the office of resident-medical officer of district asylums will give a preference to candidates who can show that they have acquired a practical knowledge of the treatment of insanity, provided that they are in other necessary respects as fully qualified as their competitors?
§ MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUEsaid, in reply, that he did not think it advisable to lay down any absolute and sweeping rules, which generally did more harm than good; but his hon. Friend might rest assured that the Irish Government, whenever there was occasion to make such appointments, would not lose sight of the fact that practical knowledge was of the greatest importance in such cases. He had certainly never contemplated the possibility of making any such appointment without reference to that consideration.