§ MR. MAURICE HEALYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the allowance made for house rent to all married members of the Royal Irish Constabulary below the rank of district inspector is only 1s. per week; and can he state what allowance is made for the same purpose to district and county inspectors, and at what date the amount in question was first fixed, and on want principle it was arrived at.
§ MR. G. W. BALFOURThe fact is as stated in the first paragraph; but married members of the force below the rank of district inspector are also exempt from a statutory deduction of 1s. per week from their pay, which exemption practically raises the lodging allowance to £5 4s. per annum. A lodging allowance at the rate of £21 5s. l0d. per annum was fixed in 1870 in the case of a district inspector of the third class. The allowances payable to district inspectors of the second and first class vary, according to the length of service, from £27 10s. to £40, and a county inspector receives an allowance of £50. These allowances were fixed in 1882. The allowances to officers and men were fixed on a consideration of the class of house or lodging accommodation which, having regard to their rank in the force, they would be expected to occupy.