§ MR. PLUNKETasked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether he is aware that Memorials have been forwarded to the Treasury by various departments of the Civil Service in Ireland, containing a comparison of the duties performed by these departments with those performed by corresponding departments of the Civil Service in England, and praying that the Irish departments may be placed upon an equality as to salary with those performing analogous duties in England; and, if so, whether he will state why it is that in many instances the prayers of these Memorialists have not been entertained by the Treasury?
MR. GLADSTONEsaid, in reply, that he was aware that certain memorials had been forwarded to the Treasury by various departments of the Civil Service in Ireland, containing a comparison of the duties performed by these departments with the duties performed by corresponding departments in England. When he was asked, however, that the Irish departments might be placed upon an equality as to salary with those performing analogous duties in England, he was obliged to answer that although a correspondence of service was primâ facie a partial index to remuneration, yet it was by no means the sole test. The Treasury must take into account the whole circumstances of each case, and each case must depend on its own merits.