§ MR. LYNCHasked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether he can state the number of documents registered, and the number of searches issued, by the Registry of Deeds, Ireland, in the year 1883; whether the officials engaged in making such searches and constructing the records of the Department are liable for any loss that may arise through error or otherwise; whether, in a memorial to the Treasury in 1865, the property annually registered was estimated at nine millions sterling; whether there is any other department in Ireland in which business of such magnitude is transacted, or in which the duties are of such a responsible and technical nature; whether a Royal Commission which inquired into the Registration of Deeds issued a Report in October 1880, containing certain recommendations intended to confer a present benefit on the clerical staff; whether his attention has been drawn to Mr. Armstrong's note in the said Report, to the effect that the existing staff should receive such special improvement as their position justified; and, whether, with a view to remove the existing widespread discontent, and to ensure the efficient discharge of the functions of the Department, he will grant such an improvement in salaries, classification, and annual increment as will place the staff on an equality with those of other important offices?
§ MR. COURTNEYI have already dealt with all the points raised by this Question, in reply to the five Questions which have been put to me this Session on the subject of this Office. There is no necessity for increasing its cost, and no intention of doing so. On the contrary, we hope somewhat to diminish it by the substitution, when vacancies occur, of cheaper clerks than those employed in some of the Departments of the Office at present.