§ MR. BERNARD COLLERY (Sligo, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1) whether an instalment of seed loan amounting to £1,000 odd becoming due by the Sligo Union, and payment being unavoidably delayed for about three months, a sum of £53. 10s. was exacted by the Treasury, and paid by the guardians after remonstrance; (2) whether this sum was charged as interest for the overdue time; and, if so, at what rate; (3) and, if a similar rate is charged on loans of this kind in England?
§ MR. HANBURYThe answer to the first paragraph is Yes. The answer to the 2nd paragraph is No. The sum in question represents not interest but Receiver's Fees which are charged in all cases where instalments are not paid within one month of the date when due. The charge was a statutory one, imposed by Section 6 of the Public Works Loans Act 1892. Interest on these loans is payable not by the localities but out of the Irish Church Fund, so if these fees were not enforced, there would be little inducement to the localities to repay the loans. I am not aware that there are any loans of this kind in England.