§ 47. Mr. GINNELLasked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that the present Lord Chancellor of Ireland, when Attorney-General and Director of Public Prosecutions in Ireland, refused to take any notice of spurious insurance policies, by which many poor people in Ireland were deprived of their savings, and which have been held by the Irish Court of Appeal to be illegal, that his successor in the Attorney-Generalship acted similarly, and that the present Solicitor-General for Ireland has, since his accession to that office, acted as leading counsel for the Law Integrity Insurance Company in a case in which trial was evaded; whether it is usual for Law Officers of the Crown in England to act for companies evading the law; and, in the circumstances in Ireland, whether he will take any steps to revive for the public there the protection afforded in England by the Director of Public Prosecutions?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI am informed by the Irish Government that the answer to each paragraph of the question is in the negative. All the duties of the 2040 Director of Prosecutions in England are discharged in Ireland by the Attorney-General.
§ Mr. GINNELLMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether the present Solicitor-General for Ireland was adviser to any Government Department at the time of this trial?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI cannot answer that question without notice.
§ Mr. GINNELLMay I ask whether the Irish Government were aware of the advice given by Mr. Moloney to this company when he was made Solicitor-General?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI have already stated I am informed by the Irish Government that the answer to each paragraph in the question is in the negative.