§ DR. THOMPSONTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that several Poor Law medical officers in Ireland are over seventy-five years of age and still retain their appointments; and, if so, if he will authorise the Local Government Board to frame rules which will allow those officers to tender their resignations, subject to their being satisfied with the retiring allowance granted them by the local authorities.
(Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) No doubt some of the Poor Law medical officers are advanced in years, but in the absence of a compulsory Superannuation Act it is not possible for the Local Government Board to compel them to resign, unless of course they fail to discharge their duties satisfactorily. The proposal that medical officers should be permitted to tender their resignations provisionally is not feasible. Under The Union Officers' Superannuation Act,
†See (4) Debeates, cxxxvii.,1352.759 1865, a pension can only be awarded to an officer upon his resigning or otherwise ceasing to hold office.