MR. SULLIVANasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, If it is a fact that the business of the Chief Clerks' Offices in the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice in Ireland is in great arrear, and that in some instances certificates of accounts which have been taken in their offices and passed by them over twelve months ago have not yet been put into draft or passed and signed by the judges?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. GIBSON)Sir, in reference to the Question of the hon. and learned Member, I communicated with the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, who is not aware of any case of the kind, and he thinks that if such cases did occur they were exceptional. One of the Chief Clerks—the clerk to the Master of the Rolls in Ireland—was some time ago seriously ill, which might have caused some delay; for, under existing arrangements, no one in the office of the Chief Clerk can perform his duties, and this may have created some inconvenience. The Lord Chancellor of Ireland, however, in connection with the pending re-organisation of Departments, is considering this question, and hopes to be able to adjust matters so as to prevent delay in future.