§ LORD GEORGE HAMILTONsaid, he would beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether, having regard to the facts set forth in the Annual Reports of the Poor Law Commission for Ireland laid before Parliament in the years 1869 and 1870, to the effect that the operation of the Act passed in 1868 (31 and 32 Vic. c. 74) extending the powers and duties of the Poor Law Inspectors in Ireland, has imposed additional labour on those officers, and has considerably increased their personal expenses, it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to accede to the application made by the Poor Law Commissioners, and both by the late and present Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in favour of an improved scale of salary for the Poor Law Inspectors?
MR. GLADSTONEreplied, that the question of increasing the salary of the Poor Law Inspectors in Ireland had been under the consideration of the Treasury, and that the Treasury had hitherto made a negative reply. The question had, however, been re-examined recently in connection with matters to which the noble Lord had adverted, and the answer of the Treasury would be very shortly made known.