§ MR. P. M'DONALD (Sligo, N.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether a Memorial has been received from the Royal Irish Constabulary Pensioners praying that the fund known as the Royal Irish Constabulary Fund might now be wound up; what the intention of the Government is with respect to the Fund in question if the prayer of the Memorial be not acceded to at present; and, whether this Fund, established in 1836 and originally intended for the benefit of the widows and orphans of policemen, now amounts to £133,489?
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN) (Kent, Isle of Thanet)(who replied) said: Memorials praying for the winding-up of the Constabulary Force Fund have been received on behalf of some of the pensioners from the Royal Irish Constabulary; but the Government do not consider it advisable to comply with the prayer. This Fund, the scope of which was enlarged by the Constabulary Act of 1866, has been applied strictly to the purposes laid down by that Act —namely the reward of meritorious members of the Constabulary Force, and also for the relief of the widows and children of the members of that Force. The intention is to continue to apply the Fund strictly to those purposes till all the existing charges on the Fund shall have been paid off as they mature from, time to time. So far as can now be estimated these claims will absorb the greater portion of the accumulated fund, amounting to £133,489.