§ DR. THOMPSONTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he will explain why the Local Government Board for Ireland have refused to sanction the increase of salary granted to Dr. Collins, of Ballinasloe, seeing that this officer has had thirteen years service without a complaint; that his salary is now £15 a year less than it was when he was first appointed; and that the Local Government Board have quite recently sanctioned a salary of £150 to a medical officer of a much smaller dispensary district in the same neighbourhood.
(Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) In answer to the first part of the Question, I refer to my reply to the similar Question of Wednesday last by the hon. Member for East Galway.† Dr. Collins was appointed dispensary medical officer in 1891, at a salary of £112 a year. His present salary is £120 a year, together with a small annual payment as compensation for reduction of income arising out of the operation of the Local Government Act of 1898. The district referred to at the end of the Question is wholly rural, and affords small Scope for private practice. Dr. Collins resides in the town of Ballinasloe, and has good opportunities for private practice.