MR. T. M. HEALYI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury when the £700 due to the Kingstown Town Commissioners by the Treasury will be paid them?
§ MR. HANBURYThe sum referred to is about £750. It represents the arrears of contributions to rates, which the Government were under no legal obligation to pay, and which, since 1892, both the late and the present Governments declined to pay on the ground that the Town Commissioners did not fulfil their share in the maintenance of the roads in question. Had the agreement with the Town Commissioners been allowed to be carried out in the Bill which the hon. Member opposed last night, a sum of £750 would have been 409 paid to the Town Commissioners—[Cheers.]—but the agreement must, of course, stand or fall as a whole. [Cheers.]
MR. T. M. HEALYMay I ask the Attorney General if he, will consider the advisability of sending up an indictment against the Kingstown Harbour Commissioners for a public nuisance in not keeping their roads in repair? [Irish laughter.]
§ * MR. SPEAKEROrder, older!
§ MR. J. J. CLANCY (Dublin Co., N.)May I ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether there was any provision in the Bill last night for paying this £750, which the Government say they cannot pay legally?
§ MR. HANBURYNO; but, there was an understanding between the Treasury and the Town Commissioners, which was just as good. [Cheers.]