§ MR. SEXTONasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 353 Whether it is the fact that the Naas Board of Guardians have permitted Dr. Hayes, the Medical Officer of the Rathmore Dispensary District, to continue to hold that office after it had been proved at a Local Government Board investigation, on oath, that Dr. Hayes, when he was Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Rathmore, had made about twenty-one double entries in the register of vaccination; and, on the discovery of the fact by his successor in office, Michael Melia, had paid Melia a bribe of £2 to procure his silence, and had not made confession till Melia asked a further bribe; whether Melia has been dismissed by the Registrar General for acceptance of the bribe; and, what course will be taken in regard to his confederate?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANThe evidence adduced at the inquiry showed that out of 979 entries of successful vaccinations made by Dr. Hayes in the course of 20 years, 21 appeared to be duplicates. Of these, eight had from time to time been discovered by Dr. Hayes himself and marked as errors. The system under which the material for these entries is collected is such as to lead to great liability to error; and it is not believed that the duplicate entries were intentional, or made with fraudulent purpose. When Melia, Dr. Hayes's successor in office as Registrar, discovered some of the duplicates and drew his attention to them, Dr. Hayes asked him to call at his house in order that they might go over the Register together. Melia declined on the ground that his time was of value to him, and Dr. Hayes then said he would compensate him for his time and also give him money for refreshment. It was in these circumstances that he gave Melia a cheque for £2. In doing this Dr. Hayes acted most unwisely and improperly; and it is greatly to be regretted that he did not adopt at once the course which he subsequently did when Melia wrote to him accusing him of fraud—namely, lay the matter before the Guardians and seek investigation. Melia was dismissed by the Registrar General, because, according to his own evidence at the inquiry, he accepted what he regarded as a bribe to conceal an irregularity from the proper authorities. Dr. Hayes has been 32 years an officer of the Union, and the Board of 354 Guardians continue to have confidence in him, and in these circumstances the Local Government Board do not think it necessary to take any further action in the matter.