§ MR. CONYBEARE (Cornwall, Camborne)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is the fact, as sworn by Cullinane, the Crown witness in the Lisdoonvarna 749 Moonlighting case, that he and others had been kept in the pay of the police, and housed and maintained in a certain house in or near the Ballybough Road, Dublin; whether he can state the cost of maintaining such lodging house, and whether it is accounted for under any, and which, head of the Irish Votes; and, whether he will state the number of Crown witneses who have been thus housed and maintained during the last three years, and whether any, and which, of them have been convicted of any, and what, offences?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.)The Deputy Inspector General of Constabulary reports that the Crown witness referred to was housed and maintained for one night at the Crown witness depôt at Clontarf. The cost of maintenance of this house was for the past financial year £161. It is a charge against the Vote for Public Buildings (Ireland). Thirty-one Crown witnesses, together with 17 members of their families, were housed and maintained at different times during the last three years. No records are kept at the witness depôt which would furnish a reply to the concluding portion of the Question.