Captain CRAIGasked the Chief Secretary whether his attention had been called to the last report of the resident medical superintendent of Waterford District Lunatic Asylum, dated 13th June, in which he referred to the unusual number of 1091 assistants who had been confined to bed with various ailments; whether he was aware that one of the attendants had stated that, although the hours of duty performed by the attendants were far in excess of other workers, everything pointed to an increase in that direction owing to the number of attendants on the sick list, and to such an extent were the staff overworked that they were deprived of every third Sunday off, which ran their rest up to the sixth Sunday; and whether, in view of the number of cases which had been brought to light of overworking attendants in asylums in Ireland, he would take steps to ensure that their hours were shortened to something approximating the ordinary working day?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI understand that most of the attendants who were ill at the time of the report referred to in the question have now recovered, and that any attendant who is deprived of Sunday liberty, owing to illness amongst the staff, is allowed an equivalent number of hours in the following week. As I have already informed the hon. Member, the question of the hours and conditions of work of attendants of asylums is one for the local committees of management.