§ MR. ARTHUR O'CONNORasked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether the Committee, which reported in 1878 upon the administration of the Board of Works 536 (Ireland), urged that immediate effect should be given to some system of open or limited competition for the supply of furniture and other articles to the Board, so as to reduce the value of supplies obtained without contract, or by contract after limited competition only, from £16,000 to £5,000 a year; whether any, and what, change has been made since that Report in the direction of having competitive tenders for the supply of furniture, and when that change was made; and, what has been the financial effect of the change?
§ MR. COURTNEYThis recommendation has been carried into effect as occasions offered, and the value of the stores obtained without contract has been reduced to about £5,500 a-year; this includes only such articles as could not with advantage be obtained by open competition.