MR. T. M. HEALYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant 40 of Ireland what sums were drawn by Colonel Wood, Colonel Hillier, Colonel Bruce, Mr. Fanning, and Mr. Colomb, late Inspectors General, respectively from the Constabulary Force Fund, and what sums each paid into this fund; was there at one time a separate Force Fund for officers, and was it wound up at the wish of the officers, who were allowed to join the fund of the rank and file; could they draw more money from the latter; and are the officers and a few officials the principal, if not the sole, objectors to this fund being wound up?
MR. J. MORLEYThe sums paid from the reward branch of the Constabulary Force Fund to the officers in question on their retirement were as follows:—Sir J. S. Wood, £279; Colonel Hillier, £279; Colonel Bruce £232 10s.; Sir R. Fanning, £155; Mr. Colomb, £76. The sums deducted from the pay of these officers for the benefit branch of the fund while in the Service were:—Sir J. S. Wood, £257 10s.; Colonel Hillier, £261 10s.; Colonel Bruce, £140 17s. Sir R. Fanning, £161 Is.; Mr. Colomb, £186 4s. Colonel Hillier, Colonel Bruce, and Sir R. Fanning continue to contribute; voluntarily to the fund from their pensions at the rate of £12, £9, and £10 per annum respectively. On the death of Sir John Wood, who also contributed from his pension, I am informed that a grant at the authorised rate was made from the benefit branch of the fund to Mrs. Wood amounting to £1,144 10s. 10d. Mr. Colomb, being unmarried, cannot derive any benefit from the statutable deduction from his pay. It seems necessary again to point out that the grants on retirement of officers and men are paid from the reward branch, the income of which is derived from fines and penalties; while the statutable deduction from pay is appropriated to the benefit branch, from which grants to families of deceased members are made. There has never been any separate public fund for officers. There was for a time a private widows' fund, but it did not prove a success and ceased to exist, having become bankrupt. It was a purely private matter from first to last. The silence of officers on the question of the winding-up of the benefit branch, so far as I can gather, appears to arise from the fact that they understand the expectations of the men could not be realized.