§ MR. DILLONI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury can he give the names of the present Board of Control of Lunatic Asylums in Ireland, also the names of the members of the Board of Control when the contract for the Port-rain Lunatic Asylum was made, indicating those who were at that time Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland; and, can he state to whom is the Board of Control responsible for decisions under which large sums of public money are expended and contracts are placed to which the Fair Wages Resolution of the House of Commons applies?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURWith the permission of my right hon. Friend I will reply to this Question: The members of the Board of Control, as at present constituted, are the Right Hon. Lord Justice Homes, the Chairman of the Board of Works, the two Inspectors of Lunatic Asylums, and Sit Francis Cruise, M.D., Mr. Charles Kennedy, J.P., and Mr. Malcolm Inglis, J.P. The only change that has taken place in the constitution of the Board since the contract for the auxiliary asylum at Portrane was entered into is that Mr. Inglis has succeeded Mr. Drummond, who resigned through ill-health. It has been the invariable practice of the Board, before undertaking any asylum works, to confer and consult with the Governors of the asylum concerned, and when these works have been approved of by the Governors and by the Board of Control, it is necessary to obtain the authority of the Lord Lieutenant in Council for the proposed expenditure. When such authority has, after due inquiry, been given, the necessary funds are obtained by means of loans issued by the Treasury through 'the Commissioners of Public Works. Except as above stated, I am not aware that the Board of Control are responsible to any authority.
§ MR. DILLONasked whit was responsible for placing the contracts?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe Board of Control is responsible for placing the contracts, but I am not aware that they are responsible to any other body for the way in which they discharge that duty.
§ MR. DILLONasked whether he was to understand that the Board of Control 895 were not answerable to anybody for the placing of the contracts?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURNo, Sir, I believe that the Board of Control has a statutory authority.
§ MR. DILLONThen how is the House to enforce the Fair Wages Resolution in relation to these contracts?
§ [No answer was given.]
§ DR. TANNER (Cork Co., Mid)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether, in the case of any dangerous lunatic confined in an asylum in whose behalf application has been made that he or she shall he discharged, having ceased to be insane, such application cannot be entertained until it shall be certified to the Lord Lieutenant by two physicians or surgeons that the individual has become of sound mind, or it has been certified by the resident medical superintendent or visiting physician that he has ceased to he dangerous, and if in the case of the two former authorities demanding such release any demur on the part of the local medical (asylum) authorities can prevent it?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURIn the case of a dangerous lunatic committed to a district asylum under the 10th Section of the Act 30 and 31 Vic. cap. 118, it is not necessary for two physicians or surgeons to certify that the individual has become of sound mind before an application for discharge can be entertained. The discharge of such lunatics is regulated by Section 11 of the Act and by the latter part of Section 10. Section 11 requires the resident medical superintendent, or the visiting physician, to certify that the person has either become of sound mind, or has ceased to be dangerous; while the latter part of Section 10 enables relatives or friends, under certain conditions, to take the lunatic under their care and protection on entering into sufficient recognisance for his safe-keeping. But the Court of Appeal has held that there is no absolute right conferred by this section, and that it remains optional with the Governors of the asylum to so transfer the custody of the lunatic.