§ Mr. MacVEAGHasked whether the post of clerk of petty sessions in England is usually filled by a solicitor, whereas in Ireland it is usually filled by a police pensioner; and whether he will consider the advisability of restricting future appointments in Ireland to men of legal training?
§ Mr. BIRRELLIn England the clerk of the justices is usually a solicitor, but in Ireland, under the Petty Sessions Clerks Act, a petty sessions clerk cannot practice as a solicitor. Several solicitors have been appointed to petty sessions clerkships and have given up their practice, but as a rule the salary is not sufficient to attract such candidates. Of the 411 petty sessions clerkships in Ireland only sixty-eight are held by police pensioners.
Captain COOPERIs it not the fact that in their duties the police obtain a very good knowledge of petty sessions work, and therefore make suitable petty sessions clerks?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI do not wish to say that the police do not do their duty all right.
§ Mr. LARDNERDoes not the employment of police officers as petty sessions clerks in certain districts tend to destroy the confidence of the people in the administration of justice?
§ Mr. BIRRELLAs I have said, solicitors hardly care to give up their practice in order to take these posts, and, therefore, the choice of the men for them is restricted.
§ Mr. MacVEAGHIs it then the case that there is a lower class of officials holding these posts in Ireland than in England?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Irish law prohibits petty sessions clerks practising as a solicitor, and that is the difference between the two countries.
§ Mr. MacVEAGHasked the Irish Secretary the name, age, and salary of the present occupan[...] of the position of Registrar of Petty Sessions Clerks; whether the clerks are expected to know law; whether the registrar to whom they are subject is expected to know law; if so, what legal training the present registrar has had; whether he is in receipt of any pension in addition to his salary; and whether the registrar and his staff and the petty sessions clerks come under the sixty-five age rule?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Registrar of Petty Sessions Clerks is Colonel Henry Caddell. He is sixty-five years of age, and his salary is £800 a year. Petty sessions clerks are examined in law if their salaries exceed £70 a year. There is no legal qualification prescribed for the office of registrar, but the present registrar, before his appointment, was a resident magistrate. He is not in receipt of any pension, his army pension having been commuted. I am advised that he does not come under the sixty-five years' rule, and that rule would not appear to apply to his staff. Petty sessions clerks appointed since 1903 retire at seventy.
§ Mr. MacVEAGHWhy is he not subject to the sixty-five years of age rule? Does not a Civil servant become incompetent at sixty-five years of age?
§ Mr. BIRRELLWithout going into the question when a man becomes incompetent, there is a difference between a Civil servant of the ordinary rank and those who are paid not by public money, but by fines and out of court funds.
§ Mr. T. M. HEALYDid not the late Government compel Sir Thomas Brady, the Fishery Commissioner, to retire at the age of sixty-five, although there was a judicial decision that the sixty-five age regulation did not apply to him?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThat question, I think, should be addressed elsewhere.
§ Mr. CULLINANWas not this gallant colonel appointed to his post by the present Leader of the Opposition because he was carrying out his policy, "Don't hesitate to shoot," and shooting down people in cold blood in Ireland?
§ Mr. MOOREDid not this gentleman recover £10,000 damages for a cruel libel against a Tipperary Nationalist paper and was never paid a farthing?