MR. JUSTIN HUNTLY M'CARTHY (for Mr. T. D. SULLIVAN)asked Mr. Solicitor General for Ireland, What steps do the Government intend to take regarding the Constabulary Pensioners who retired from the Force before the 423 year 1874, seeing that, according to 10 and 11 Vic. c. 100, s. 3, 1847, Head or other Constables in the Service at the passing of said Act were entitled to their full pay; what fund received the 2½ per cent. which was stopped from each man's pay from 1838 for about twenty years, when it was reduced to 1½ per cent.; and, are the men of the present Constabulary Force receiving any benefit from the stoppages made from the pay of the men who retired before 1874?
§ THE SOLICITOR GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. WALKER)I assume that this Question is intended to refer to members of the Constabulary discharged between the 10th August, 1866, and 7th August, 1874. The case of these men has been already before the House, and has been anxiously considered, and successive Governments have come to the conclusion that they received the pension to which they were entitled by law. The details of the case are too complicated to be dealt with in answer to a Question. With regard to the deductions, the case is as follows:—2 per cent was deducted for Superannuation Fund from 1836 to 1866, when that deduction ceased. There never was any accumulation on account of this deduction. On the contrary, the amount was never sufficient to pay the pensions, and it was supplemented by money provided by the Treasury. Half per cent was deducted for the Police Reward Fund (now called the Constabulary Force Fund) from 1836 to 1866, when it was increased to 1½ per cent. The families both of pensioners subscribing and of men who die in the Service are eligible for gratuities from this fund, and subscribers to it now serving have no advantage over those who are on pension. Men who joined the Force after the passing of the Constabulary Act of 1882 are not liable to any deduction on account of this fund, nor are they or their families entitled to benefit from it. No man now serving benefits from the deductions from the pay of men who retired before 1874, or at any time.