§ MR. JAMES O'CONNOR (Wicklow, W.)On behalf of the hon. Member for East "Wicklow, I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether District Inspector Wade, who has recently been transferred from Queenstown to Wicklow, has for the past three years drawn an annual allowance for the wages of a manservant; if so, whether he kept a manservant; during the whole of that time, or did one of the police constables act as servant for him; if so, was the constable paid for such work; and if this is contrary to the regulations.
MR. BRYCEThe reply to the first Inquiry is in the affirmative. The Inspector-General informs me that on three occasions during the period mentioned the district inspector was suddenly left without a groom, whereupon three constables voluntarily fed and watered his horse for a few days until he got a groom. When the matter was brought to the Inspector-General's notice in January last he informed the district inspector that, while he fully appreciated the good feeling shown by the constables, the bettor course would have been to send the horse to a livery stable. The constables were not paid for the work. There is no regulation bearing on this subject.