§ MR. T. M. HEALYasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Whether it is a fact that the late Mr. M'Comas, of Dalkey, county Dublin, left by his will a sum of £500 for the benefit of the fisheries of Ireland; whether such sum was claimed by the late Trustees to aid Sea Coast Fisheries, who have been since abolished by Act of Parliament; whether, at the hearing of the cause before the late Master of the Rolls (Sir Edward Sullivan), it was decided their claim to it was invalid, and that the money should be placed in the hands of the Charitable Donations and Bequests Commissioners; whether that sum of money still remains in their hands unutilized; whether they have offered to apply only the interest of said sum for the benefit of the fisheries; whe- 1895 ther he will consider whether this course of action on the part of the Commissioners is warrantable, as not carrying out the wishes or intentions of the testator; whether, considering that this money might be judiciously applied in whole to the benefit of the fisheries, he will take such steps as he may consider advisable, whether by legislation or otherwise, to have such money placed in the hands of trustees to carry out the intentions of the testator; and, would there be any objection to a Return being furnished of all moneys in the hands of the Charitable Bequest Commissioners, showing from what sources derived, and how they are expended annually?
THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. JOHN MORLEY),in reply, said, that the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests informed him that they were most anxious that this fund should be utilized. If the executor of the deceased and one of the Inspectors of Fisheries to whom they had offered the interest continued to decline to administer it, they had determined to offer it to the Board of Works, to whom the administration of the Sea Coast Fisheries Fund had been transferred; but, in the absence of an order from a competent authority— which he presumed was a Court of Law —they must decline to hand over the corpus of the fund to any private person, there being no direction in the will to that effect. He should add that the late Master of the Rolls made no decision on the claim of the Sea Coast Fisheries Commission to the Fund. As a matter of fact, the interest had been handed over to that Commission so long as it existed. The information requested in the last paragraph of the Question, he understood, was contained in the annual Reports of the Commissionors of Donations and Bequests.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYasked, whether the right hon. Gentleman would follow the example of his Predecessor, and bring in a Bill, in order that this fund might be properly administered?