§ MR. J. E. ELLIS (Nottingham, Rushcliffe)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he will lay upon the Table, a Return giving the following particulars with respect to the Privy Council of Ireland:—Dates of meetings held from 1st August 1886 to 31st January 1887, inclusive; and names of Members of the Council present at each such meeting?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Sir MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH) (Bristol, W.)A Notice of every meeting of the Privy Council in Ireland is invariably published in the Dublin newspapers on the following day. That Notice includes the name of every Member present at the meeting. There can, therefore, be no difficulty in getting the information asked for in the Question; but an official Return can be prepared, if it is thought worth while to move for it. Perhaps the House will permit me, as certain statements have been very widely made in this House and out of it, to say that it is a complete delusion to suppose that the learned Judges who happen to be Members of the Privy Council do any act or give any advice in the slightest way influencing the action of the Executive, much less have anything to do with the decisions as to the initiation of prosecutions. I dare say the right hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Morley) will bear me out in that statement.