§ MR. HAVILAND BURKETo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether, having regard to the fact that the seven best-salaried appointments in His Majesty's prison in Tullamore are held exclusively by Protestants, and that only two out of seven Catholic warders in this prison are in receipt of extra allowances such as are granted to the Protestant officials, he will use his influence to secure a more equal system of preferment and extra allowances in this prison.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) Appointments and promotions in the prison service are made solely on the ground of fitness and efficiency, and the question of religion is neither directly nor indirectly taken into consideration. In some prisons Protestant officials happen to predominate, and in others Catholic officials are in the majority.