§ LORD G. BENTINCKsaid, that, in conformity with notice which he had given to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he called upon the right hon. Gentleman to furnish him with information upon the following points:—1. The average weekly amount (travelling expenses included) paid to each officer of 'the Irish Public Works Staff of 11,587,' that is to say, engineers, sub-engineers, inspectors, sub-inspectors, stewards, pay-clerks, and overseers. 2. The highest and lowest weekly pay of the same. 3. The gross amount of the cost of maintaining, during the month of January last, the aforesaid 'staff of 11,587,' together with an account of the extraordinary expenses of the Board of Works, or any other board connected with the relief of the destitute poor in Ireland. 4. The average amount of weekly wages paid to each person of the destitute poor employed upon the public works in Ireland in the month of January last. 5. The gross amount of the cost during the three months of November, December, and January last, of maintaining the absolutely destitute poor employed on the public works in Ireland, as distinguished from the staff of 11,587 officers, as aforesaid. 6. Measured in quarters or barrels, the entire amount of grain, flour, or meal, which has been provided and dealt out to the starving or destitute poor of Ireland by the present Government, since their advent to office, and the aggregate cost thereof. Finally, the ratio which the entire cost of maintaining the aforesaid staff of 11,587, added to that of the extraordinary expenses of the Board of Works, or any other board, occasioned by the relief of the destitute poor in Ireland, bears to the corresponding cost of maintaining the absolutely destitute 1357 poor themselves during the three months of November, December, and January last, in Ireland.
§ The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERsaid, that as his noble Friend had been kind enough to give him notice of his intention to ask for the information which he required, he would endeavour to give him all the information in his power; but his noble Friend's inquiries went so much into detail, that he could not fully satisfy him without communicating with Ireland. In the first place, his noble Friend wished to know what was the amount paid to each officer of the Irish Public Works Staff of 11,587. He had no doubt that that was the number of the staff at the present moment, because it had been increased since it was first established; but, as he was not in possession of an official return of the number of the staff at the present moment, it would perhaps be sufficient if he referred to the number stated in the blue book, page 486. It was there stated, that the number of persons employed on public works in Ireland, other than the destitute poor, was 10,897, and that the sum paid them in wages was 2,774l. 2s. 3d., which, multiplied by six, would give their weekly wages. The noble Lord wished to know, in the second place, the highest and lowest weekly pay of the persons employed. By referring to the blue book, page 19, the noble Lord would find a list of a number of officers of various descriptions; and it appeared that officers in the Royal Engineers received the highest rate of pay, namely, 30s. per day, with travelling expenses, and 10s. per day hotel expenses, when out. The lowest wages were paid to overseers of works, namely, 2s. per day. The third of the noble Lord's inquiries referred to the cost of maintaining the staff of officers during January, and the extraordinary expenses of the Board of Works. The cost of the staff for four weeks, at the rate already stated, was 78,000l., of which 20,800l. was paid by the public, the remainder being charged to the works. It was not in his power at present to state what the extraordinary expenses of the Board of Works amounted to. With respect to the average amount of wages paid to the destitute employed on public works in January last, he had to inform the noble Lord that, speaking generally, the lowest wages were 8d., and the highest 1s. 4d. per day. The noble Lord next desired to know what was the gross cost, during November, December, and January, of maintaining 1358 the absolutely destitute poor employed on the public works, as distinguished from the staff of officers. By referring to the blue book, page 344, it would appear that the sum actually paid for labour, in four weeks of November, was 308,351l.; in the first four weeks of December, 585,045l.; and in the whole of December, up to January 2,742,050l. With respect to the quantity of corn purchased by the Government, it amounted to 218,000 quarters, of various sorts, up to the middle of January. More had been bought since then, but he was not in possession of a return of the amount. He was likewise unable to state what quantity of provisions had been dealt out from the depôts. For the ratio which the cost of maintaining the staff, added to the extraordinary expenses of the Board of Works, bore to the cost of maintaining the absolutely destitute, he must once more refer to the blue book, page 487, where it was stated that the cost of the staff was not more than 7 per cent on the expenditure for labour. He had already said, that he could not state what the extraordinary expenses of the Board of Works were.