HC Deb 12 June 1917 vol 94 cc770-1
67. Mr. BYRNE

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he is aware of the wages paid to attendants employed in Central Asylum, Dundrum, county Dublin; if the wages for first-class attendants is £52 a year, second-class attendants £42 a year, and third class £30 a year; if the majority of these are married men with families; and if he will see that they are paid the same rates as in England, which is first class £70, second class £52, and third class £40, with increased war bonuses?

Mr. DUKE

The initial wages of the respective grades of attendants (exclusive of war bonus and allowances, which are the same in all cases) are as stated, except that the second class in English asylums commence at £50, not £52. The majority of attendants in the Dundrum Asylum are married men with families. The rates of remuneration for all kinds of labour of this class are higher in England than in Ireland, and the wages of the Dundrum Asylum attendants are much higher than those of the Irish District Asylum attendants.

Mr. BYRNE

Does the right hon. Gentleman consider £42 a year a proper salary for a married man, and can he say when these men are to be placed on the same level as men doing similar work in England?

Mr. DUKE

I cannot discuss a large matter of that kind in answering a question

Mr. T. WILSON

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the cost of living, for all intents and purposes, is as high in Ireland as in England?

Mr. DUKE

In some parts of Ireland it. certainly is, but in others I should say that it IB not.

Mr. BYRNE

Will the right hon. Gentleman recommend these men for a war bonus of some sort?

Mr. DUKE

I cannot answer that question without notice.