§ Major ENTWISTLEasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he will have laid upon the Table of the House a copy of each of the Weekly Summaries, issued from the police headquarters to barracks in Ireland, from the 13th August to date?
§ Sir H. GREENWOODThe answer is in the negative.
§ Mr. KENYONasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the provision already made in the Estimate for the Royal Irish Constabulary will be sufficient to cover the men employed?
§ Sir H. GREENWOODIt is more than probable that it will be necessary to seek a further Supplementary Vote to cover Royal Irish Constabulary expenditure in the current financial year.
§ Mr. JELLETTasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland what is the number of pensioners in the Royal Irish Constabulary who had to retire through ill-health after a service of 15 to 25 years previous to 1st April, 1919, and the average rate of pension in such cases?
§ Sir H. GREENWOODThe figures for which my hon. and learned Friend asks cannot be supplied without an exhaustive examination of the pension books of the 1523W Royal Irish Constabulary. I am not prepared under present conditions to ask the staff of the Royal Irish Constabulary Office to undertake this task.
§ Mr. JELLETTasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Treasury has yet decided on the revised pension scale for these disability pensioners; and is he aware that their present pensions are entirely inadequate to supply the means of living?
§ Sir H. GREENWOODThe pensions to which my hon. and learned Friend referred in the question just answered are being revised in accordance with the provisions of the Pensions (Increase) Act recently passed. That Act prescribes the conditions under which increased pensions may be granted and the extent of the increase. In regard to the latter part of the question, which raises a point that was fully considered before the recent Bill became law, it must be borne in mind that the vast majority of the pensioners who retire from the Royal Irish Contabu-larly through ill-health are not incapacitated for ordinary life. Special pensions are of course provided for persons disabled by injury received in the execution of their duty.