HC Deb 07 May 1888 vol 325 cc1462-3
MR. NOLAN (Louth, N.)

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Has the attention of the Local Government Board been given to the following items of expenditure objected to before their auditor, Colonel R. M. Studdart, as appearing in the accounts of the Belfast Town Council in the years 1885 and 1886, in connection with the visits of His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant and of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, and amounting altogether to the sum of £1,370 4s. 3d.:—1. Payment of £30 for decorating Ulster Hall; 2. Payment of £200 for decorating and illuminating the Town Hall; 3. Payment of £217 16s, for decorations; 4. Payment of £180 for furniture and fitting up rooms for their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales; 5. Payment of £85 for decorating Town Hall; 6. Payment of £75 for decorating and illuminating Albert Memorial Clock; 7. The balance for expenditure of a kindred nature; did the auditor report that the Corporation was justified in this expenditure; and, if so, will he state under what Statute was the expenditure legal; was it the fact that the auditor, Colonel R. M. Studdart, was the hon. treasury of a public subscription fund raised to celebrate the Prince of Wales's visit; and, will instructions be given to the Belfast auditor to maintain an independent position in regard to such matters in future?

THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.)

I have been promised a full Report on the subject of this Question to be forwarded from Dublin by post to-morrow. I will, therefore, ask the hon. Member to defer the Question until Thursday next.