§ MR. BIGGAR (for Mr. SHIEL)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Is it a fact that at last Quarter Sessions held at Trim, county Meath, the cases for hearing (or some of them) were postponed owing to non-attendance of Sessional Crown Prosecutor, Mr. George Keogh, and if, when he subsequently attended, the Chairman severely rebuked him, Mr. Keogh explained, by stating he was unavoidably delayed by unusual train arrangements; whether, when questioned by the Chairman as to his reason for not being at Trim over night, he pleaded pressure of business and a wish to save expense; is it a fact that a case in which Mr. Keogh was interested was also postponed; will the Government sanction such a miscarriage of justice, and permit such hardship to all interested; what is the amount of Mr. Keogh's salary, and what the amount meant to cover expenses; do the Government consider Mr. Keogh can properly and efficiently discharge public duty as Sessional Crown Prosecutor, holding, as he does, at the same time, a multitude of official positions, amongst which may be enumerated Solicitor to Dublin and Wicklow Railway Company, Solicitor to Bray Commissioners (Town), Solicitor to Cemeteries Committee (Glasnevin), with very constant attendance in London, and also private practice; what is the nature and quality of his staff to transact this crowd of work; and, if the Government will appoint a Solicitor as Meath Sessional Crown Prosecutor who will be better I able to discharge the duties belonging to such office?
§ MR. TREVELYANI understand that some inconvenience was caused at the recent Trim Sessions by the late arrival of Mr. Keogh the Sessional Crown Solicitor, who, as had been his practice for some years, travelled from Dublin by the morning train. The Judge informed him that, not withstanding 1098 any previous practice, he would expect him to make arrangements which would secure his earlier attendance in future; and this Mr. Keogh undertook to do. He did not plead pressure of business or personal expense as a reason for not being in Trim overnight; but he did refer to the additional public expense which would be involved in having the witnesses there overnight. No cases were postponed in consequence of Mr. Keogh's non-attendance, but in one case the Grand Jury ignored the bill in consequence of the non-attendance of witnesses. With regard to the suggestion that a case was postponed in which Mr. Keogh was interested, the facts are that the case was one in which he was neither plaintiff nor defendant, but in consequence of his being the landlord of a farm to which it related the Judge at a previous Session had ordered that he should be made a party to it. The plaintiff had neglected to do so, and in consequence the case was adjourned. No blame attaches to Mr. Keogh as regards it. Mr. Keogh's salary as Sessional Solicitor is £175 per annum, and he has no allowance for expenses. He is a solicitor in extensive general practice, and it is no part of the duty of the Government to inquire as to his private business, or the staff he employs to carry it on. The present complaint against him resolves itself into this, that he should have gone to Trim on the evening before the Sessions, and the Attorney General does not think that this calls for his removal from office.