§ Sir S. HOAREasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, what is the number of Judges of all kinds in Ireland, the amount of their salaries, and the additional number and cost involved in the provisions of the Government of Ireland Bill?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONThere are at present in Ireland fifteen Judges of the Supreme Court (including the Judicial Commissioner of the Land Commission) and one Land Comissioner having the powers of a Judicial Commissioner, with aggregate salaries of £61,000 per annum, and twenty-one Recorders and County Court Judges, with aggregate salaries and War bonus of £41,980 per annum. The last part of the question does not admit of a definite reply in view of the nature of the scheme proposed in the Bill. It can, however, be stated that this scheme contemplates that, as a normal arrangement, the future Supreme Courts of Judicature of Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland and the High Court of Appeal for Ireland should employ sixteen Judges, including the Lord Chancellor, and the Judicial Commissioner, as compared with fifteen of the present Supreme Court.