§ Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYasked the Chief Secretary whether the boy White, when shot dead by a sentry at Spike internment camp, was within the forbidden area next to the barbed wire defences; whether he was playing football at the time; and if it would have been possible for a warning to have been given him before he was fired on?
§ Mr. HENRYThe court of inquiry in the case of Patrick White found that death was due to bullet wounds fired by a member of the Crown Forces in the execution of his duty. The deceased, who was not a boy but a man of 33, was interned at Spike Island and was reaching through the wire when he was fired at. His motive appears to have been innocent, but it has been necessary to instruct sentries to fire immediately on any person attempting to break through or tamper with the wire, and they cannot be blamed when, as in this case, an internee acts in defiance of definite orders.
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§ Mr. LAWSONasked the Chief Secretary if he can make a Return showing the number of internment camps in Ireland, the number of prisoners in each, the cubic space per head in the sleeping apartments, and the ration of food per man in each camp?
§ Mr. HENRYThere are four internment camps in Ireland. The number of internees in each is as follows:
The cubic space per head is calculated on scales laid down by Regulations for the Army Medical Service, namely, 500 cubic feet. The accommodation for internees compares very favourably with that available for the troops in many parts of the country. The daily ration of food per man is as follows:
Ballykinlar 1,758 Curragh 1,007 Spike Island 381 Bear Island 106 Bread, 1 pound; potatoes, 10 ounces; vegetables, 4 ounces; rice, 2 ounces; tea, ½ ounce; oatmeal, 2 ounces; sugar, ½ ounce; margarine or dripping, 1½ ounces; milk, ½ pint; meat, 10 ounces five days a week; bacon, 8 ounces one day a week; fish, 12 ounces one day a week.