§ MR. HANBURYasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether the Annual Report, first issued in 1840, showing the aggregate amount of deposits in the eight principal banks of Ireland, has been discontinued since 1832; and, if so, for what reason; and, whether the Government Report of 1882 showed the total deposits to be £30,667,000, whereas the balance sheets of 1885 showtotal deposits of £33,610,000; and, if so, whether the Report of 1882 can be taken as being an accurate statement of the facts, for the purpose of comparing the deposits of the two years?
THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. JOHN MORLEY)The Report has not been discontinued. As I stated on the 1st instant, the last one is dated as recently as the 10th ultimo. There is no reason to doubt the accuracy of these Reports. The balance sheets of the banks include items that are necessarily excluded from the Report, which is intended to show, as nearly as possible, the cash balances on deposit receipt and current account of Irish dspositors. I need only refer to such items as the large English business of the National Bank, which is included in their balance sheet, the public account of the Government in the Bank of Ireland, and bills of certain kinds which banks include in their cash balances, to show that a comparison between the figures in the Report and the balance sheets of the banks is quite fallacious. As a matter of fact, there has been a decrease in these deposits as between December 1882 and December 1885.