§ MR. MACNEILLI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he will give the date of the medical report which has been received respecting Mr. Conybeare's health; whether it made any, and what, reference to the repeated complaints made by Mr. Conybeare as to the rheumatic affection from which he is suffering, or to the complaints made by Mr. Conybeare respecting the weakness of and pain in his eyes, which he attributes to the whitewashed walls of his cell; whether, inasmuch as Mr. Conybeare complains of suffering constant pain, sometimes so severe as to entirely cripple him and prevent him from walking, he will have further and fuller reports sent as to Mr. Conybeare's condition; whether it is the fact that on Monday last Mr. Conybeare could get only half an hour's exercise, owing to the wet weather, and on Tuesday he and all other prisoners were confined to their cells the whole 903 day, in consequence of the rain; whether, in view of these facts, he will reconsider his opinion that no sheltered exercise ground is needed; and, whether there is any other prison in England or Ireland in which first-class misdemeanants are confined to one small cell similar to that which Mr. Conybeare is compelled to occupy?
§ MR. WILLIAM M'ARTHURI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he will request the General Prisons Board of Ireland to direct the doctor of Londonderry Gaol at once to make a careful examination into the state of the eyesight of Mr. Conybeare, M.P.?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe notice is insufficient to deal with these questions.
MR. MAC NEILLWell, will the right hon. Gentleman give me the assurance that a special officer will be sent to examine into Mr. Conybeare's eyesight?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI cannot do that. The surgeon to the gaol is a most competent man, and I have not the slightest fear that the hon. Member will be neglected.
MR. MAC NEILLBut the right hon. Gentleman is aware that the prison doctor is a mere general practitioner, and not a specialist.
§ MR. W. M'ARTHURWill the right hon. Gentleman request the General Prisons Board of Ireland to direct the doctor of Londonderry Gaol to at once make a careful examination into the state of Mr. Conybeare's eyesight.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe Prisons Board are perfectly alive to the health of every person in the Irish prisons, and I know they are watching this case with great care.
DR. KENNYMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman to give a general order on the question of the colouring of the cells? The matter has been already under discussion amongst the authorities and they are all agreed on the matter.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI am not aware that the authorities are agreed on the matter. There has been no evidence brought before me that leads me to believe that the present system of colouring the walls of prison cells is deleterious to the eyesight of the prisoners. However, I will bring the matter before 904 the Irish Prisons Board and take their opinion on it.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that when the hon. Member for North East Cork (Mr. W. O'Brien) was in Tralee Gaol, and made representations as to the distress caused to him by the white colour of the walls, the Governor of the gaol had the evil remedied in the twinkling of an eye—causing the walls to be brown-washed? I would ask the right hon. Gentleman is it worth while to keep this question open such a length of time when, with so little trouble, the grievance of the hon. Member for Camborne could be removed?