§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will give a reference to the statutory authority, if any, for diverting from the Irish Constabulary Force Fund into the reward branch the accumulated revenue from fines and penalties which had previously belonged by Statute to the general benefit fund under its old name; what was the amount so transferred; and whether he will lay upon the Table, or make available, a copy of the Report of the actuarial inquiry of 1891?
§ Mr. MASTERMANI understand that when the reward branch of the Constabulary Force Fund was established in 1891 all accumulated funds up to that date were set aside for the benefit branch. Consequently no transfer of funds to the reward branch as suggested by the question took place then or since. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative. The Report was a purely departmental one on the approximate actuarial position in 1891, and would not be of any interest now.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Chief Secretary in view of the urgency of regularising the Irish Constabulary Force Fund, and of the fact that the investigation of an account always under Treasury control should not occupy many weeks, if he will say what has delayed the Report in this case for several months; and when the Report will be available?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe hon. Member appears to be under a misapprehension. The actuarial inquiry involves the investigation of particulars not shown in the annual accounts, such as a valuation of the liabilities of the fund depending on1448W examination of some 18,000 individual accounts. It is not possible to say at present when the Report will be completed.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Secretary to the Treasury the amount paid into the Irish Constabulary Force Fund in the year ending 31st March, 1913, as deductions from pay and pension and as interest on capital, respectively, and the amount of payments made in the same year from that fund to widows and orphans of sub-scribers; if this latter was unusual, and, if so, to what extent and what the cause was; why the securities saleable only at greatest loss were selected for sale when it became necessary to realise; and who it was that gave that particular order for sale?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe first two parts of the question should have been addressed to my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary for Ireland, but I understand that in the year to 31st March, 1913, the amount received in the form of deductions from pay and pensions, was £4,424 0s. 10d., and in the form of interest on investments £10,177 16s. 1d. The payments made to widows and orphans of subscribers were £18,284 19s. 6d., and there was nothing unusual about the latter figure. The amount drawn from the National Debt Commissioners was £14,000, being £10,000 interest, and £4,000 sale of stock. A sale of securities would be made under the directions of the National Debt Commissioners and up to the present time such sales have been effected in Consols, as being the most readily marketable security and as standing at a relatively higher price than Local Loans Stock, the ony other security held. There is no justification for saying that the security showing the greatest loss was selected.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the total amount of money paid out of the Irish Constabulary Force Fund as rewards for exceptional police services between 18th August, 1866, and 18th June, 1883; under what Act and Section those payments were made; and, the services being to the State and not to the subscribers to this fund, whether the State will recoup the fund the amount so paid?
§ Mr. BIRRELLUnder the Statute of 6 William IV., Cap. 13, Section 49, creating the Reward (now Constabulary Force) Fund, such rewards, gratuities, bounties, pensions, or other allowances may be paid to members of the force as 1449W the Lord Lieutenant may from time to time award or direct to be paid. The Act 29 and 30 Vic., Cap. 103, Section 9, enacts that the Reward Fund shall be available for the reward of meritorious members of the constabulary force, as well as for the relief of the widows and children of such members. Under the Regulations approved by His Excellency from time to time, rewards have therefore been paid for good police service of various degrees, for absence of unfavourable records, or as bounties on retirement. The accounts of the fund are not available so far back as 1866, and it is, therefore, not possible to state the total amount of money so paid between 1866 and 1883, but all those payments were made in accordance with Statute, and the question of recoupment does not therefore arise.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state, from the auditor's annual reports of the Irish Constabulary Force Fund, the amount added to that fund as interest on investments every year since 1866, and the total so added in the period to the date of the latest audit?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe interest on investments received since the fund was placed under the control of the National Debt Commissioners has been:—
1450W The figures prior to that date are not readily available.
£ s. d. Year ended 31st March, 1892 1,088 17 7 Year ended 31st March, 1893 9,023 19 0 Year ended 31st March, 1894 9,270 8 8 Year ended 31st March, 1895 9,526 10 6 Year ended 31st March, 1896 9,750 17 8 Year ended 31st March, 1897 9,993 12 11 Year ended 31st March, 1898 10,106 13 3 Year ended 31st March, 1899 10,244 15 1 Year ended 31st March, 1900 10,354 3 6 Year ended 31st March, 1901 10,530 2 10 Year ended 31st March, 1902 10,599 6 2 Year ended 31st March, 1903 10,645 16 8 Year ended 31st March, 1904 10,295 18 11 Year ended 31st March, 1905 10,233 4 11 Year ended 31st March, 1906 10,294 6 9 Year ended 31st March, 1907 10,407 9 6 Year ended 31st March, 1908 10,469 17 8 Year ended 31st March, 1909 10,429 5 1 Year ended 31st March, 1910 10,359 1 8 Year ended 31st March, 1911 10,293 7 8 Year ended 31st March, 1912 10,317 13 3 Year ended 31st March, 1913 10,177 16 1 Year ended 31st March, 1914 (to date) 2,506 16 6 £216,920 1 10
§ Mr. GINNELLalso asked how the amount of the accrued surplus of the Irish Constabulary Force Fund under 10 and 11 Vic., c. 100, s. 7, between the passing of that Act and August, 1866, was ascertained; what the amount was; and in what manner it was; transferred to the Superannuation Fund?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Inspector-General is unable to say how the surplus on the Reward Fund (otherwise Constabulary Force Fund), was ascertained each year between 1847 and 1866, but, presumably, the surplus consisted of the balance of the receipts from deductions on pay and pensions which remained on hand after payment of rewards and gratuities. The accounts of the fund were not at this period kept in the Inspector-General's office, but in the Receiver's office, and the method of transfer cannot be described. Treasury Minute of 20th February, 1891, stated that, from 1847 to 1856, £42,809 11s. 6d. was in all transferred from the Reward Fund to the Superannuation Fund, but that after 1856 the surplus of income over expenditure ceased, owing to the admission to benefit in that year of families of pensioners.
§ Mr. GINNELLfurther asked how much of the Irish Constabulary Force Fund was spent on witnesses and evidence in connection with the Parnell Commission; to what persons the money paid; under what authority the payments were made; and whether the Treasury will recoup the fund to that amount?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThere are no grounds for suggesting that expenses of witnesses attending the Parnell Commission were paid from the Constabulary Force Fund. No such payments were made from the fund or could be so made.
§ Mr. GINNELLnext asked the total amount of the contributions of all ranks from salaries and pensions to the Irish Constabulary Force Fund from 10th August, 1866, to the present time?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe information asked for is not available.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked whether the actual effect of the rules under which the Irish Constabulary Force Fund is administered is that if a subscriber leaves a widow she may claim 10s. for every 20s. contributed to the fund by her husband, the rest with 1451W interest being lost; if a subscriber's wife predeceases him, and he leaves children under eighteen, each of these gets only one-eighth as much as their father contributed while on pension, all the rest of his contributions with interest being lost; if he leaves unmarried daughters over eighteen, they get only one-sixth among them of what their father contributed to the fund, the other five-sixths with interest being lost; and if the subscriber leaves neither children under eighteen nor unmarried daughters, the entire amount of his contributions with interest is lost?
§ Mr. BIRRELLUnder the rules of the benefit branch of the Constabulary Force Fund the widow of a subscriber is entitled as her own share to a gratuity calculated at the rate of 5 per cent. on all the pay received by her husband, and, in addition, if he has died while on pension, at the rate of 10s. in the £100 on the amount of pension he has drawn. The rates of subscription are 1½ per cent. on pay and 1 per cent. on pension. The widow receives, in addition, for each child in benefit, who is under eighteen years, one-fourth of her own share. If there is no widow, but only children under eighteen years in benefit, each child receives one-fourth of what would have been paid to the widow; had the deceased left one, equivalent (for each such child) to 1¼ per cent. on the pay and ⅛ per cent. on the pension. The ordinary limit of age is not applied in the case of an unmarried daughter left without a mother, and she (or if there are more than one over eighteen, they collectively) receives one-third of what would have been paid to the widow, equivalent to 1⅔ per cent. on the pay and ⅙ per cent. on the pension. If a subscriber leaves no widow, or children under eighteen, or unmarried daughters without a mother, no gratuity is payable. The subscriptions which lapse in this way enable the fund to pay benefit in excess of the subscriptions in other cases as above-mentioned. Every pensioner is at liberty to cease subscribing to the fund.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the total number of men of all ranks who joined the Royal Irish Constabulary from 20th May, 1836, to 18th June, 1883?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe number of men recorded as having been appointed to the Royal Irish Constabulary from the establishment of the force in 1836, up to the 18th June, 1883, is 50,990.
1452W
§ Mr. GINNELLasked how many head constables on their promotion to district inspectorships, from 10th August, 1866, to the present time, have been given grants from the Irish Constabulary Force Fund; the aggregate amount of such grants; the Act and Section under which they were made; and whether the Treasury will recoup the fund for all such payments as have no legal sanction?
§ Mr. BIRRELLIt is not practicable to furnish the information asked for. It could not be procured owing to the remoteness of the period covered without an immense expenditure of time and labour out of all proportion to its value. The payments were made in accordance with the rules of the fund approved by the Lord Lieutenant under Section 9 of the Constabulary Force (Ireland) Act, 1866, and no question of recoupment can therefore arise.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether, before a pension is given to a member of the Irish Constabulary Force, his superior officer is asked to certify that he has served with diligence and fidelity; and if he will state under what statutory authority the Inspector-General subsequently discriminates between men so certified or their families in like circumstances, making a special grant from the Constabulary Force Fund in one case and little or none in the other?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe answer to the first paragraph of the question is in the affirmative. The special grants referred to in the second paragraph are presumably payments from the reward branch of the fund, which, as I have repeatedly stated, is entirely distinct from the benefit branch. These payments are based upon the amount of salary at date of retirement, and are also dependent upon the length of service of the retiring member and his freedom from unfavourable records for certain periods previous to retirement.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked under what statutory authority contributions to the Irish Constabulary Force Fund are not returned with interest to a subscriber on his retirement from the force in accordance with the Act 6 Will. IV., c. 13, s. 49?
§ Mr. BIRRELLSubscriptions to the Constabulary Force Fund (Benefit Branch) could not be returned to the subscribers on their retirement from the force, because 1453W the Statutes governing the fund do not provide for such repayments.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked how many subscribers to the Irish Constabulary Force Fund are now in receipt of pensions of £30 Or under, from £30 to £45, from £45 to £60, and over £60 a year, respectively?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThese particulars could only be obtained at an expenditure of time and trouble out of proportion to the value of the result. The constabulary authorities have been busy procuring the information required for the actual investigation of the position of the fund, and I cannot impose on them the duty of preparing further Returns on the subject.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the maximum and minimum amounts of gratuity paid out of the Irish Constabulary Force Fund (Benefit Branch) in the three years ended 31st March, 1913, to widows and children of officers and of men, respectively, and to unmarried daughters (left without a mother) of officers and men, respectively?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe maximum grants paid from the fund in the period mentioned to the widows and children of officers and of men were £1,068 0s. 4d. and £379 8s. 10d., respectively, the minimum grants being £160 0s. 3d. and £24 18s. 5d., respectively. The maximum payments to the unmarried daughters (left without a mother) of officers and of men were £271 15s. 9d. and £34 3s. 5d., respectively, while the minimum payments in such cases were £123 8s. 11d. and £7 2s., respectively.