§ MR. HENRY H. FOWLER (Wolverhampton, E.)asked the First Com 1473 missioner of Works, Whether his attention has been called to the statements contained in a Memorial sent to the Judge of the County Court at Newport, Monmouthshire, by the barristers practising there and 70 Solicitors, as to the insufficient and defective accommodation provided for the sittings of the Court, and for the offices; and, what steps he will take to provide a proper Court and offices?
§ THE FIRST COMMISSIONER (Mr. PLUNKET) (Dublin University)My attention has, from time to time, been called to the insufficient accommodation afforded in the County Court referred to, which is held on a lease expiring at Christmas, 1889. With the view of meeting the difficulty temporarily, it was arranged in January, 1886, that the sittings of the Court should be transferred to the new Town Hall, which had then just been completed, and to the use of which, and also of the building erected and used by the County Justices, the Government were entitled for County Court purposes under the provisions of the Act 13 & 14 Vict., c. 61, s. 24. Ample accommodation is afforded in these buildings for all the County Court business, but the transfer has never been carried out; because the Local Authorities appear to have been unable to make arrangements for the occupation of the Town Hall on two consecutive days in those weeks in which the County Court sits. Such arrangements are found possible in other towns where the County Court business is larger than at Newport; and I have recently informed the Memorialists, who have prayed for improved accommodation, that I must look to the Local Authorities to afford every possible facility to the Government in making arrangements which are primarily for the benefit of the town without entailing unnecessary expenditure on National Funds.