§ MR. MEEHANTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that ex-military men have recently been appointed governors of Irish prisons; if he will give a Return of the number appointed, salary and emoluments in each case, and say if any of the gentlemen are in receipt of pensions from the Army; will he say if they have had any training for the position; and whether, seeing that, by reason of their inexperience, they have to depend on their subordinates for the information necessary for the efficient discharge of their duties, and that such appointments were previously made from the staff of the Irish prison service, he will discontinue the appointment of inexperienced persons, and 904 restore to the staff the prospect of promotion to the higher branches of the service.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) One recent case only has occurred of the appointment of an ex-military officer as governor of an Irish prison. There are, in all, four such gentleman serving. These were appointed in the years 1892, 1898, 1903, and 1906, respectively. Their present salaries are £415, £290, £170, and £310, respectively, with quarters, and one of them is in receipt of a military pension. Two of these gentlemen, including the one recently appointed, had previously been deputy governors of Irish prisons. The suggestion that such governors are necessarily dependent on their subordinates for the information necessary to the efficient discharge of their duties is not confirmed by the experience of the General Prisons' Board. The regulations which they have to enforce are clear and explicit. Promotions from subordinate positions to governorships are made when warranted, and the proportion of such promotions in Ireland is much larger than in other parts of the United Kingdom. Twenty years ago five governors, out of a total of twenty-two, had been promoted from subordinate ranks. At present eleven out of the existing eighteen governors have been so promoted.