§ MR. DELANYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether Treasury sanction was obtained for the increase of the maximum salary of the chief clerk of the Department of Agriculture from £700 to £850 per annum; and is he aware that while the Treasury sanction has been obtained for this and other increases of salary the Department has made unsuccessful recommendations to the Treasury for increases amounting to less than 1s. per week in the salaries of men with service under the Crown of from ten to thirteen years, whose pay is approximately £95 a year; and whether he will see that no further increase in the chief clerk's salary is proposed to the detriment of the humbler officials 1390 and until their claims have been suitably dealt with.
§ MR. ATKINSONThe reply to the first inquiry is in the affirmative. There is no analogy between the case of an administrative officer of the position and standing of the chief clerk, who has completed over thirty-seven years service, and the cases of the junior clerks referred to in the Question. The latter are on the scale of salary determined by the Treasury for the grade of the service to which they belong.