SUPPLY—REPORT. (Hansard, 17 June 1864)

LORD NAAS
said, he wished to refer to a matter which occupied considerable attention in Ireland, and which had reference to the office of Public Works in that country. He had been unwilling to call attention to this subject, lest he should shake confidence in the administration of the Board, but a debate had recently taken place on the subject, and the Government had introduced a Bill, altering the constitution of the Board. The late Chairman had retired to a comparatively subordinate position. He therefore thought it was worthy of the consideration of the Government whether the Board should not be placed upon a different footing, and in immediate connection with the Irish Government. Great inconvenience had constantly arisen from the position of the Board. Serious exceptions had been taken to acts committed by the Board, and it had been always a matter of difficulty to find out who was really responsible for those acts. He wished to ask whether in the new arrangement it was intended to place the Board more in connection with the Irish Government? The large expenditure which the Board had been in the habit of making was coming rapidly to an end, and it therefore ceased to be the important department it was heretofore. There was another body in connection with it—namely, the Fishery Commission, which occasioned great inconvenience, inasmuch as the public could not exercise any control over the acts of that Commission. He hoped that the permanent part — the Inspectors and Commissioners— 2024 would be wholly removed from the superintendence of the Board of Works, and that they would be placed in connection with the Irish Government. If the Board of Works were to be continued he thought it should have a member of the Government attached to it. It was worth the attention of the Government, whether they could devise some means by which a responsible member of the Government should be connected with it, and the Fishery Commission removed from that department.

MR. PEEL
said, that with all respect for the opinion of the noble Lord he could not agree with him in thinking that there was any ground for being dissatisfied with the constitution of the Board of Works. The Board had hitherto consisted of three persons, but as long ago as 1854 the Treasury contemplated that the number of Commissioners should be reduced from three to two, and one of the present Commissioners was at first only appointed temporarily. He brought in a Bill to reduce the number, but it occurred to him afterwards that a better present arrangement would be that Sir R. Griffith should accept an honorary Commissionership, and thus the Board still nominally consist of three Commissioners, and he therefore withdrew the Bill. With regard to the relations of the Irish Board of Works with the Treasury, he considered these relations satisfactory, and that the Treasury should communicate with them direct and not through the medium of the Irish Government. With regard to the Fisheries Commission, the failure in the result of its duties should not be ascribed to any unwillingness of its members to execute the law, but to the imperfection of the law which required a private person to take preliminary, proceedings before it could be put in motion. By the act of last Session, however, the new Fisheries Commissioners could themselves, and without the intervention of any private person, initiate proceedings.

§ MR. BUTT
expressed his concurrence with the views of the noble Lord, and thought it would be desirable that the Board of Works in Ireland should be represented by a Minister in that House. The Chairman of the Board was totally removed from the control of Parliament.

§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER
said, that it would be exceedingly improper for the House to adopt the suggestion of the hon. Member. Very large 2025 financial interests were intrusted to the administration of the Irish Board of Works, and it would be inconvenient to have two representatives of the finance of the country in that House. He, therefore, thought it right that the Irish Board of Works should be represented in the House of Commons through the medium of the Treasury.

§ LORD FERMOY
said, he hoped some change would take place in the constitution of the Irish Board. The Secretary for Ireland ought to represent the Board in that House if the Chancellor of the Exchequer represented the financial department.