§ Mr. CRUMLEYasked the Chief Secretary for Iceland if he will arrange that assistant matrons in Irish prisons may have every alternate Sunday off duty, as is the rule in all English prisons?
§ Mr. DUKEUnder the recent scheme of reorganisation, it is hoped that it may be found possible to give this relaxation.
§ Mr. CRUMLEYasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland (1) if he will state the number of warders who have been promoted to Class I. and the number promoted to Class II. under the new Irish prisons scheme in each of the following prisons: Belfast, Mountjoy, Waterford, Cork (male), Tralee, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, and Londonderry and Armagh; where and on what date the examination, as a result of which these men were promoted, was held; on what subjects were they examined; who were the examiners; and in what manner it is intended to deal with such promotions in future; and (2) whether neither capacity, length of service, nor existing remuneration were taken into account when filling Class II. at the inception of the now scheme for the Irish prisons service; whether promoted warders with twenty years' service and upwards who were in receipt of pensionable allowances for performing special duties under the old scheme were put in Class III., whilst junior and other officers who were never before promoted were put in Class II.; whether it was known to the staff of Belfast and other prisons after the governors' return from their visit to the General Prisons Board office in November last, and at least one week before the promulgation of the new scheme, the names of the warders who were to be 240W placed in Class II.; whether any test whatever as to their literary or other qualifications was applied; whether heretofore promotion in the Irish prisons service has only been obtained either as a result of private influence or of a secret and confidential list supplied by the governor of each prison to the Prisons Board in the June of each year; and whether, in order to allay the present feeling of discontent existing throughout the service and to ensure fair play in future for competent warders eager for promotion and who are unable to command private influence or obtain a place on the governors confidential list, he will take steps to have established some system of competitive and qualifying examination as exists in all other branches of the Civil Service
§ Mr. DUKEThe warders in Classes I. and II. were taken from the General Prisons Service, and the numbers allocated to the several prisons will depend or, exigencies of the service which vary from time to time. There is a qualifying literary examination on entering the service. The examination on which promotion depends is that made by the Board upon continuous knowledge of the conduct of the officer in the performance of his duties. As to the other matters in these questions, I must refer the hon. Member to the previous answer I gave on the 22nd ultimo.