§ MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been directed to the cases of interference by the Local Government Board in Ireland with elected representatives; whether he will take this matter into consideration, and provide a remedy by amending the Local Government Act.
(Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) This question has reference to the action of the Local Government Board in the case of Mrs. O'Neill, a midwife, in the service of the Guardians of the Rathdown 1101 Union. In view of the importance apparently attached to the case I will briefly set out the facts. Mrs. O'Neill was suspended by the Guardians on the ground that she had left the workhouse without the permission of the master and matron. It was also alleged that, in order to cover her default, Mrs. O'Neill untruthfully stated she had obtained permission from the matron. The Guardians requested the Board to confirm the suspension and authorise her dismissal. In the exercise of her statutory right Mrs. O'Neill appealed to the Board against the decision of the Guardians. The Board thereupon directed a sworn inquiry to be hell for the purpose of eliciting all the facts. It transpired at the inquiry that the midwife endeavoured to see the master to obtain leave of absence, but that having failed to see him she told the matron and understood that she had her permission to go away. Mrs. O'Neill doubtless committed an error of judgment in assuming that she had the permission of the, matron to leave the workhouse. but the Board did not consider that her action, under all the circumstances, justified the extreme penalty of dismissal, and more especially as she was an efficient officer of some standing and had never been admonished on any previous occasion. I have personally examined the facts of the case and am satisfied that the Board could not have arrived at any other conclusion I have reason to believe that the matron, who is a nun, is indisposed to regard what has happened as a cause for a continuance of any unpleasant relations with the midwife, and I should hope that the Guardians, on a reconsideration, will permit the latter to resume duty.