§ MR. HARRIS (Galway, E.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Is it true that Colonel O'Hara, the Government auditor, has surcharged M. Egan in the sum of £6, J. Lahy in the sum of £4, and L. Egan in the sum of £2, on the ground that, being Poor Law Guardians, these gentlemen had given to tenants, who had been evicted, a weekly allowance of 10s. each; and, if so, will the Government state whether, in thus surcharging these Loughrea Guardians, Colonel O'Hara acted on his own judgment as to the amount surcharged, or according to a scale of charges fixed by law; and, would the Government say whether, in making 1624 surcharges, public auditors have discretionary power; and, if so, to what extent?
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN) (Kent, Isle of Thanet)(who replied) said: Messrs. L. Egan and M. Egan were surcharged the sums of £2 and £6 respectively on account of having sanctioned excessive payments to evicted tenants. They had not given an allowance of 10s. a week to each of the tenants, but of 20s. each weekly. The auditor considered this rate excessive, allowed payments at the rate of 10s. a-week each, and disallowed the balance. The surcharge of £4 against Mr. Lahy was due to the fact that he had sanctioned payment to a person who was not "destitute." This person had been already refused relief by the relieving officer and the Guardians; the auditor acted on his own judgment in the matter; a full discretionary power is allowed by statute to auditors of Poor Law Union accounts.