§ MR. HEALYasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether any of the sum of £180,000, 812 recently voted by Parliament as a reward to the Irish police, will be paid to the officers and men in Clare, Mayo, and Kilkenny, against whom verdicts of "wilful murder" were returned by coroners' juries; whether a great amount of extra duty was also thrown upon the warders and others connected with the Irish prisons during the period since the Protection of Person and Property (Ireland) Act has been in force, as well as upon the police; and, whether prison officials will be entitled to participate in the reward granted to the Constabulary, or if the Government intend in any way to recognise their services?
§ MR. TREVELYANSir, the sum in question has not yet been voted by Parliament, and it is not intended that any portion of it is to be given to officers in the Constabulary. In the County Mayo alone were these verdicts of "wilful murder," within the past two years, brought by Coroners' Juries against any members of the Force who will be entitled to share in the proposed grant. There were two cases in that county. In one case the Attorney General obtained a conditional order on technical grounds to quash the inquisition; but instead of proceeding with it, he directed a magisterial investigation, with the result that informations were refused, and the ease, therefore, was not sent for trial. In the other case, the Grand Jury at the Assizes ignored the bill. With regard to the case of the prison warders, the extra labour was met by employing extra hands. The duties of some of the superior officials in the prison service were, perhaps, somewhat more heavy than usual. Their case, however, is quite different from that of the Constabulary, and does not call for any special recognition.