§ Mr. T. M. HEALYasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he was aware that Mr. Hugh O'Donnell, of Arranmore, county Donegal, was put in charge of the lifeboat at Arranmore at a salary of £20 a year and a cottage, and that the local committee of the National Lifeboat Society in August, 1905, procured his dismissal without any inquiry, with the result that the crew of the lifeboat refused to man the same, and a crew living three miles off had to be appointed; if the Board of Trade would inquire whether, in case of wreck, the distance of the crew from the lifeboat would be a source of peril to mariners; and whether an inquiry will be held into the circumstances?
Mr. BUXTONI am informed by the National Lifeboat Institution that their local inspector of lifeboats reports that the present lifeboat crew is made up of fishermen, half of whom live close to the station, and the other half in other parts of the island. There is no reason to suppose that any undue delay would arise in launching the boat when her services are required. I have no power to order an inquiry into the circumstances of Mr. O'Donnell's dismissal as the lifeboat at Arranmore is under the management of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.