I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state how many times a year Courts of petty sessions, including sessions held by the Chairman of the Town Commissioners under the operation of the Towns Improvement Act, are held in Dromard, and what are the reasons which District Inspector Clayton, of Banbridge, gives to the Inspector General for not attending these sessions; whether he is aware that this officer spends most of his time in his own recreations instead of discharging his duty, and during the greater part of last September and October was incapacitated through an injury incurred in such recreations;, and whether he will lay upon the Table copies of Monthly Return No. 8, as filled up by District Inspector Clayton and forwarded to the Inspector General.
The petty sessions are held monthly. I have already stated that this officer's absences from petty sessions have been accounted for to the satisfaction of the Inspector General, and that he is not required to attend the sessions if he has more urgent duty to discharge elsewhere. I have no information as to the second paragraph. The reply to the third paragraph is in the negative.