THE O'CONOR DONrose to call the attention of the House to the evidence given before the Committee on the General Valuation of Ireland in the Session of 1869; and to the Papers and Returns since presented to the House on the subject; and to move for a Select Committee to inquire into the Constitution and Management of the Department of the General Valuation of Ireland, the cost of the Townland and Tenement Valuation, and all matters connected with the Annual Revision thereof. The hon. Member said, that a Committee, upon the Grand Jury Laws of Ireland was appointed in 1868, over which he presided, and before them the valuation question came up. They, however, had not time to investigate the matter, and reported in favour of further inquiry. In 1869, accordingly, a Committee upon Valuation was appointed, but so near the close of the Session, that they were unable to report fully upon the matter; but they resolved that it was desirable that there should be a careful examination of the books and accounts relating to the valuation, and that the question of the apportionment of the charges to the different counties should be submitted to the Auditor General. That Committee had never concluded its labours or made a Report. The Committee had therefore delegated to others the further prosecution of their inquiry, because of the extraordinary revelations made respecting 1719 the increase of expenditure involved in the annual revision of the valuations. The townlands valuation cost £190,000, and a tenement valuation £325,000; besides which there was an annual revision according to the changes in occupation. In 1868 the local charges were about double what they were in 1860. The hon. Member then went into a minute detail of the inaccuracies and misrepresentations alleged to have been made by the witnesses before the Committee, and said that if the Select Committee now moved for was appointed, it would be able to show that the Returns were grossly inaccurate. The hon. Member concluded by moving for the appointment of a Select Committee.
§
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the Constitution and Management of the Department of the General Valuation of Ireland, the cost of the Townland and Tenement Valuation, and all matters connected with the Annual Revision thereof."—(The O'Conor Don.)
§ MR. BAXTERadmitted that what had been complained of was a serious grievance; but he thought the hon. Gentleman had hardly made out his case for the re-appointment of a Committee. The Committee of 1869 sat 17 times, and went into the whole of the management of the Office for a period of 14 years; but they finally contented themselves with passing two Resolutions, one of which had been referred to by the hon. Gentleman. The opinion of the Committee was, that the accounts were not in a satisfactory state.
§ Notice taken, that 40 Members were not present; House counted, and 40 Members being found present,
§ MR. BAXTER resumed—The second Resolution was that all matters in account between the Treasury and the Committee should be submitted to the Auditor General. The Government had acted upon the first Resolution by sending Mr. Vine, a very competent officer of the Treasury, to make inquiry; and it was impossible to read his Report without seeing that he believed that the accounts of the Valuation Office were in an unsatisfactory condition. The Government had in preparation a Bill for the re-valuation of Ireland, by which it would be proposed that instead of, as at present, charging the expenditure one-half against the counties and the 1720 other half against the Treasury, for the future the counties should be required to pay a fixed annual sum, subject to revision every seven or ten years. Such an arrangement would obviate the necessity of acting upon the second Resolution of the Committee, which advised that all matters in account between the Treasury and the Committee should be submitted to the Auditor General. He maintained that the Government had acted upon the recommendation of the Select Committee. They admitted that things were not in a satisfactory condition. They were prepared to advise an improvement for the future which would prevent disputes with regard to money payments; and they had already made very great alterations in the office about which such serious complaints had been made. In his opinion, the work of the Committee had been done; and he knew from communications which he had received, that nearly all the members of the Committee declined to act again. They considered that a re-appointment of the Committee would involve a waste of time and public money, and called upon the Government to take the initiative in bringing forward a measure which should put an end to all the grievances which had led to the original appointment of the Committee. For these reasons, he did not think it would be wise to agree to the Motion of the hon. Member.
§ COLONEL FRENCHsaid, he had heard with the greatest astonishment that the hon. Gentleman declined on the part of the Treasury to consent to a re-appointment of the Committee. He wished to explain that the delay in going into business after the appointment of the Committee was occasioned by a request made by the then Secretary for Ireland. He contended that no such inquiry as the Committee directed had been made. His only desire in the matter was that there should be a proper valuation—one that would be fair to all the parties concerned.
§ SIR FREDERICK W. HEYGATE, as one of the Members of the Select Committee, wished to say that in his belief the reason why the Committee made no Report was, because after listening to the evidence for several months they could not see their way to making a Report in any shape whatever. He went into the Committee hoping to as- 1721 certain the principle on which the valuation of Ireland had been conducted; but he ascertained nothing of the sort, for the whole time of the Committee was taken up in investigating a number of personal complaints and charges, some of which were of the most trivial character. What Ireland wanted was a fair valuation for the whole country; and he suggested that it should be ascertained whether the present system of valuation was the best, or whether it might not be improved by affording to the Government officers the assistance of local men. But as to the re-appointment of the Committee, he could assure the House that none of those who sat upon it before would willingly embark in a fresh inquiry.
§ Question put, and negatived.