§ MR. M'GOVERNI beg to ask Mr. Attorney General for Ireland whether he can state what number of men of the constabulary were allocated to Co. Cavan under the original Constabulary Act; has any change in the number of men been made since the original allocation; and, if so, at what date; how many men of the Royal Irish Constabulary are at present permanently stationed in the county, and how many extra men, and to what districts are these extra men charged.
§ MR. ATKINSONThe records of the Department do not show the strength of the Police Force in each county prior to 1848. In that year the County Cavan Force numbered 400 men. In 1851, the strength of the force was reduced to 300 men. On the occasion of the last triennial redistribution of the force in 1900, the county was assigned a free quota of 219 men, which is the existing Establishment, independently of four men of the Reserve force stationed in Blacklion, a moiety of whose cost is charged to the district. I may add that prior to 1848 one-half of the cost of the entire force of the county was defrayed' from local rates. Since that year counties have been relieved of the charge for normal forces, and it is only in the event of an extra force being sent to the county that a charge is imposed.