§ MR. JAMES O'CONNOR (Wicklow, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, is he aware that Mr. G. W. Young, late secretary to the Loan Fund Board of Ireland, has stated that the illegalities sanctioned by the Board amount to about £60,000, and that this sum is at present irrecoverable; have the loan fund societies in Ireland been carried on under the authority of an Act of Parliament nail under the control of a department in Dubin Castle; have the Loan Fund Board in Dublin permitted these alleged violations of the law; and does he propose to make any change in the constitution of the Board, by the insertion of a clause, or otherwise, in the Bill introduced by the Attorney-General for Ireland on the 6th of March last.
§ *THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (MR. G. W. BALFOUR, Leeds, Central)No such statement has been made by the late Inspector of Loan Funds as is referred to in the first paragraph. The loan fund societies in Ireland have been carried on under the provisions of an Act of Parliament and statutory rules made thereunder. They have not been 765 carried on under the control of any Government department. A board called the Loan Fund Board, the members of which are nominated by the Lord Lieutenant, but over whose proceedings the Government have no control, exercises some powers of inspection and supervision over the societies by whom loans are made. The Loan Fund Board has only power to dissolve a loan society which does riot conform to the rules; it has no other power over the proceedings of these societies. This power the Board has, I believe, exercised in some instances. The Bill referred to only aims at curing some legal defects in securities not regular in form, and does not deal with the general question. Any such clause as is suggested would be outside its scope.
§ MR. DOOGAN (Tyrone, E.)May I ask whether, in view of the fact that the loss of this £60,000 will fall mostly on poor men, the Government will take any steps to recoup them?
§ *MR. G. W. BALFOURI cannot hold out any hope that in the event of there being any deficiencies they will he made up by the Government.
§ MR. JAMES O'CONNORIs not the Bill introduced by the Attorney-General for Ireland intended to legalise certain transactions which, although not legal, were sanctioned or tolerated by the Local Government Board?
§ *MR. G. W. BALFOURI have said that it is intended to deal with certain legal deficiencies.