§ MR. LANE (Cork County, E.)asked the Solicitor General for Ireland under what circumstances the position of divisional magistrate was abolished and that of divisional commissioner instituted; and whether the salaries and duties of the present divisional commissioners are the same as when these gentlemen were called divisional magistrates?
§ *MR. MADDENsaid that it had been long felt that the title of Divisional Magistrate was misleading, and the title of Divisional Commissioner had been adopted as more appropriate, inasmuch as the duties of the officers in question were purely executive.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYDid they retain and exercise the functions of magistrates?
§ *MR. MADDENThey did not exercise any judicial functions; their functions were neither more nor less after the change of name.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYWill the attention of the Lord Lieutenant be called to the fact that, being no longer magistrates in name, they should not be allowed to be so in fact?
§ MR. LANEMay I ask whether, since the change in name, the Lord Lieutenant has not conferred upon these gentlemen Commissions of the Peace for the same districts over which they acted as divisional magistrates?
§ *MR. MADDENI must ask for notice of that question.