§ MR. MEEHANI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he will say what were the grounds on which five ex-military men, some of whom hold pensions from the Crown, have been appointed to the governorship of Irish prisons; what training and experience have these five gentleman, recently appointed over the heads of the prison service, had to qualify them for the positions; and will this system of depriving the staff of the prospect of promotion be persisted in.
MR. BRYCEI beg to refer to the very full reply which I gave to the hon. Member's Question of the 12th instant on this subject.‡ Only one recent appointment of the kind referred to has been made. Prison governors are appointed by the Lord-Lieutenant, whose function it is to satisfy himself that the gentlemen to be appointed possess the necessary qualifications. I have already stated that the proportion of promotions to governorships from subordinate ranks of the prison service is exceptionally large in Ireland, eleven out of the existing eighteen governors having been so promoted. There is no intention of departing from the present system, under which the claims of subordinate ranks to promotion have been fully recognised.