§ MR. DELANY (Queen's County, Ossory)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the practice of appointing ex-Royal Irish Constabulary pensioners to the Irish Prison Service; and whether he will consider the advisability of not employing, as a prison warder, a constable who may have been in conflict with political offenders and with the criminal classes.
MR. BRYCEPensioners from the Royal Irish Constabulary are eligible for appointment as prison warders, but as a matter of fact very few have been appointed, the reason being that the majority of pensioners are physically unfit for the work. The Chairman of the Prisons Board informs me that out of a total of 380 warders, at no time have there been more than ten or twelve who have served in the Constabulary. Pensioners, however, who have been appointed have proved satisfactory officers, and so far as experience goes it would not appear that the consideration mentioned in the Question has shown any ground why the practice of occasionally appointing eligible pensioners should not be continued.