§ DR. TANNERI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, as Chairman of the Irish Prisons Board, in how many gaols in Ireland are prisoners allowed one book per month for secular reading; whether the single volume is only given to prisoners who are confined for terms over two months, and then only permitted at end of first month; whether such books can only be obtained from the prison library; and if the number of such books available for prisoners is regulated by any standard or fixed principle, or if it is meagre in county prisons as a rule.
§ MR. ATKINSON (for Mr. G. W. Balfour)My right hon. friend the Chief Secretary is not Chairman of the Irish Prisons Board, as stated by the hon. Member. In all local and minor prisons in Ireland every industrious and well-conducted prisoner who can read receives one secular book at a time. The book is not given for a month, but is changed at the discretion of the Governor. As regards the second paragraph, every prisoner receives a secular book on admission into prison. In the case of ordinary prisoners the books can only be obtained from the prison library, but first-class misdemeanants and prisoners awaiting trial are permitted, at their own expense and subject to the approval of the Visiting Committee, to obtain books in addition to those supplied by the prison. The supply of books in Irish local prisons is not a meagre one. A grant is annually made for the purchase of books, and the supply is constantly increasing.
§ DR. TANNERAm I to understand that prisoners are allowed a secular book to read during the first month, and that if a prisoner finishes the book in the course of the second month he will be allowed another?
§ MR. ATKINSONThe book is changedas I have stated, at the discretion of the Governor.