§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether inmates 314 of the Ennis State Inebriates' Reformatory, on becoming insane, are committed to the Ennis District Lunatic Asylum; and, if so, whether it can be arranged to have them committed to the asylum of the district they came from, and so prevent an unfair burden being placed on the ratepayers of Clare by having the insane from other counties placed in the Ennis Asylum.
MR. BRYCEUnder the provisions of the Criminal Lunatics (Ireland) Act, 1837, inmates of the Ennis State Inebriate Reformatory on becoming insane are committed to the Ennis District Lunatic Asylum. There is no power under the existing law to have them committed to the asylum of the district from which they came. Under the Lunacy (Ireland) Act, 1901, the entire cost of the maintenance of such persons is defrayed out of Imperial Funds up to the date of the expiration of their sentences, and hence they do not become a burden on the ratepayers of Clare until after the sentence has expired. I am informed that since the establishment of the Inebriate Reformatory in 1899, only two cases of transfer to the Ennis Asylum have occurred, and one of the persons has since died.
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDWill the right hon. Gentleman consider the advisability of bringing in a Bill to obviate this injustice to the ratepayers?
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDI will bring one in myself.