HC Deb 26 March 1896 vol 39 c179
MR. KNOX

I beg to ask Mr. Attorney-General for Ireland, (1) whether he is aware that Mr. Gordon, of Derry, who has been already three times convicted and fined for refusing to have one of his children vaccinated, is again being prosecuted for the same offence; and (2) whether he will see that regard is paid to the unanimous recommendation of the Vaccination Commission in this and similar cases?

THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR IRELAND

The facts are as stated in the first paragraph of the Question. These prosecutions are instituted by the Board of Guardians of the Derry Union in discharge of the duty imposed upon them by the Compulsory Vaccination Acts, and as no change was made in the law to carry out the recommendations of the Vaccination Committee, I have neither the power nor the right to interfere with public bodies, such as this, in the legitimate discharge of their statutory duties.