§ MR. T. HARRINGTON (Dublin Harbour)To ask the Chief Secretary to the I Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether it is the practice of the Commissioners of the Dublin Metropolitan Police to issue summonses in licensing cases without any examination of the circumstances beyond the mere reading of the reports of the officers of police; and whether, having regard to the number of cases dismissed, he will make an order that in future the solicitor specially appointed to act for the police should be consulted so as to prevent cases of a doubtful or trivial character being brought on.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) The facts of each case are carefully considered before a prosecution is instituted. There has been no increase in the proportion of cases dismissed, and it is not the case, as suggested, that summonses are issued in trival or doubtful cases. The Answer to the latter inquiry is in the negative.