§ MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN (Kilkenny)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland—(1) whether it is usual to stop the amount of fines out of the wages of Irish prison warders, and then require the persons fined to give receipts for the full amount of their wages; (2) whether this practice is legal; and, if not, will it be discontinued; and (3) will he have refunded the fines taken from the warders in this manner?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe practice is as stated in the first paragraph. The Prison Rules empower the Prisons' Board and the Governors of prisons to fine subordinate officers for neglect of duty or misconduct. All such officers on entering the service are distinctly informed that their salaries are liable to deduction by way of fines in case of neglect or misconduct, and they accept their situations subject to this 554 condition. The practice is legal under the Rules of the Service, and the same system obtains in English prisons. The reply to the last paragraph is in the negative.