HC Deb 18 March 1908 vol 186 cc581-2
MR. LONSDALE () Armagh, Mid.

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been directed to the case of the Reverend T. Long, late Church of Ireland chaplain of the North Dublin Union, to whom the board of guardians have awarded a superannuation allowance on his retirement from office, but to which allowance the Local Government Board has declined to give its sanction on the ground that the reverend gentleman had not devoted his whole time to the service of the guardians; whether he is aware that, prior to 1905, Mr. Long had held the chaplaincy of the House of Industry Hospital, Dublin, and that, although he was qualified by length of service to a pension in respect of this appointment, the sanction of the late Lord-Lieutenant was refused for a similar reason, but that subsequently, on re-investigation by the right honourable Gentleman the Member for South Dublin, as Chief Secretary, it was held, on the advice of his Law Officers, that the latter pension was legally payable and was accordingly granted; and whether he will examine the facts connected with the two cases mentioned, and take the opinion of the present Law Officers as to the action of the Local Government Board on the question of the validity of the award of a pension to Mr. Long by the North Dublin Guardians.

MR. BIRRELL

Section 1 of the Union Officers (Ireland) Superannuation Act, 1865, provides that a superannuation allowance can only be given to an officer whose whole time has been devoted to the service of the union. While the Reverend Mr. Long was chaplain of the workhouse of the North Dublin Union, he was also rector of the parish of St. Michan's, and therefore he cannot possibly be held to have devoted his whole time to the service of the union. The statute is most explicit, and no necessity arises for taking the opinion of the Law Officers upon its construction. Mr. Long received a pension as chaplain to the House of Industry Hospital under the Act relating to the hospital. In that case there is no condition that officers must have devoted their whole time to the service.