§ MR. JAMES O'CONNOR (Wicklow, W.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he can state whether Mr. Porter, of the Board of Agriculture, Dublin, was originally employed in the Army or Navy; whether he was in the employment of the Congested Districts Board; and, if so, for how long, and at what salary; how long and at what salary was he in the employment of the Land Commission; and whether Mr. Porter has been employed in any other Government Department in Ireland or England.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) Mr. Porter was formerly a sub-lieutenant in the Navy, from which service he retired with a pension of £45 12s. 6d. He has been continuously in the employment of the Irish Government since 24th November 1887, when he was appointed as Lay Assistant Commissioner under the Land Acts. His salary in that position was £800, including subsistence allowance. His qualifications are stated in Parliamentary Paper 177, of 1891. On 21st December 1891, Mr. Porter was appointed to be 1015 Superintendent of the Agricultural Department of the Land Commission, at a salary of £1,000, including subsistence allowance. Whilst so employed his services were utilised, from 1892, in connection with the operations of the Congested Districts Board for the improvement of agriculture in the Congested Districts. His salary was borne on the Vote for the Land Commission, which department, at that time, managed the Congested Districts Board's agricultural operations. In 1900, Mr. Porter was transferred to the Department of Agriculture in pursuance of Section 22 (1) of the Act establishing the Department; but he continued to be employed upon the work of the Congested Districts Board up to the 31st March 1904. During the two latter years of such service one-half of Mr. Porter's salary was defrayed by the Congested Districts Board, the remainder being borne by the Department of Agriculture. A reduction from Mr. Porter's salary of the amount of his naval pension has been made throughout his service. I have no information that Mr. Porter was ever employed in any Government Department in England.