§ Mr. HAYDAYasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether an announcement was issued from Dublin Castle to the Dublin press on 2nd October last, stating that corresponding concessions to those granted to English prison warders had been sanctioned in the case of Irish warders; whether he is aware that overtime pay at the rate of 1s. 6d. per hour is being paid to English warders for all duties performed over a 48-hour week; that in the case of Irish warders everything possible is being done to give time off in lieu of overtime performed, and so stop payment by cash; that time off in lieu is given two or three days, or perhaps a week, after the overtime is performed, as compensation for men engaged on escort duty from 6 a.m. until 9 or 10 p.m.; whether he is aware that the subsistence allowance paid such officers is barely sufficient at the present time to meet the cost of their ordinary meals, and that duty extending over eight hours per day when on escort must necessarily entail extra expenses on the officers concerned; and whether he will, 902W in these circumstances, take steps to have overtime when on escort duty compensated for by cash payment as in the English prisons service, and so give effect to his statement to the Dublin press on 2nd October last?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONThe statement as to the announcement in the Press of the 2nd October is correct. The question is governed by the Treasury authority on the matter, which stipulates that overtime may be granted to officers of the rank of warder, or principal warder, when employed on special duties, such as "escort," for which it is not practicable to give equivalent leave payment being made in the case of the male staff at the rate of 1s. 6d. an hour. The subsistence allowance paid to officers absent on duty has been revised, and considerably improved under the same Treasury authority, and should, in the opinion of the General Prisons Board, suffice to cover the extra expense involved to officers on escort duty.