§ Mr. JOHN O'DONNELLasked the Chief Secretary if he will state how many police huts are erected on the lands at Athenry now in the possession of the Agricultural and Technical Department; how 746W many police are stationed in each of those huts; how much per head has been charged for their pay, upkeep, and expenses to the ratepayers of Galway; and whether he will say how soon these huts will be removed from the lands held by what ought to be a popular public institution?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThere are two police huts on the farm attached to the agricultural station at Athenry, one containing five and the other fourteen police. These men, in addition to protecting the farm, perform ordinary police work in the district. The charge to the county is at the rate of £34 9s. 3d. a year for each man. The huts cannot be removed at present.
§ Mr. JOHN O'DONNELLasked the Chief Secretary if he will state the date on which Head-Constable Manning was transferred to Athenry from the depot in Dublin; whether his salary and travelling expenses are chargeable to the rates in Galway during the time he has been in the Athenry district; if so, whether the amount allowed in the Estimates last year for his pay and upkeep will go back to the Treasury this year; and whether the same will apply to all the extra police now and for the past two years who were stationed in Galway?
§ Mr. BIRRELLHead Constable Manning was transferred from the reserve to Athenry on 31st August, 1907. His salary and travelling expenses have not been claimed from the county, but a commuted charge for his services has been made as provided by Statute. The cost of the extra police specially appointed to counties under the Act 6 Wm. IV., cap 13, far exceeds the amount recoverable from the counties in respect of them.
§ Mr. JOHN O'DONNELLasked the Chief Secretary whether there are at present sixty-eight extra police stationed in Athenry police district; whether he will state the counties from which these men have been brought; whether these men now doing duty at Athenry still belong to the free quota of their respective counties; if so, whether the Treasury has made, or will make, any allowance to the ratepayers of the counties from which these men have been drawn because of the reduction of the force, to which they are entitled by law; and, if not, whether the gain is to be handed to the Treasury at the expense of the ratepayers of Galway county?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe sixty-eight extra police now stationed in the Athenry dis- 747W trict do not belong to the free quota of other counties, but were specially appointed under 6 Wm. IV., cap. 13, Section 13, as an addition to the free force of the county Galway. The amount recoverable from the county in respect of these men is not a gain to the State, as it is much less than their cost.
§ Mr. JOHN O'DONNELLasked the Chief Secretary if he will state how many transport cars are now engaged at Athenry town and district; what is the cost to the county of each transport car, horse and men, including pay, upkeep, and cost of transfer, to the town of Athenry; how many mounted police there are at present stationed there; what is the nature of the duties discharged by them; and what is the average cost of each to the ratepayers of the county?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe police authorities inform me that two transport cars and a transport van are employed in the town of Athenry, and one transport car at Woodlawn, in the Athenry district. No part of the cost of these cars or van or the men in charge of them is charged to the county. There are three mounted men in Athenry and one in Woodlawn. These mounted men and the transport horses and ears referred to are engaged in the conveyance of the police on duty or transfer and in carrying provisions and other stores.