HC Deb 29 July 1881 vol 264 cc132-3
MR. R. POWER

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, How it was that The Times Correspondent at Dublin had been able the day before yesterday to furnish that journal with the substance of the information contained in the 49th Report of the Irish Board of Works, which had only reached the hands of hon. Members this morning; whether he was aware of the means by which that person had obtained a copy of the Report in question; and, if not, what course he intended to take to prevent public documents of this character from being prematurely published?

MR. W. E. FORESTER, in reply, said, that this was the first that he had heard of the matter; he had not seen the statement in The Times referred to by the hon. Member, and, therefore, he could give no explanation of the matter. The hon. Member, however, must be aware that the Irish Board of Works was not under the control of the Irish Government. His right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney General for Ireland informed him that a proof of the Report in question had been in the Library of the House of Commons for some time.