§ Mr. HUGH LAWasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether any fee is properly payable to the Deputy-Keeper of the Public Record Office in Ireland in respect of searches required to be made into Census Returns in connection with old age pension claims; and, if so, what is the fee payable in respect of each application?
§ Mr. BIRRELLAccording to the Table of Fees framed under the Public Records (Ireland) Act, 1867, the only fees payable in the Record Office by persons seeking information from the Census Returns are one shilling for the inspection of any document and sixpence per 72 words for authenticated copies. In the case of extracts from the Census Returns, this fee amounts ordinarily to two shillings. As I have already stated in reply to a question asked by the hon. Member for West Belfast on 1st March last, claimants need not, unless they wish to do so, incur the expense of applying directly to the Public Record Office for proof of age, arrangements having been made for the work to be done free of charge by Inland Revenue officers on the application of the pension officers.