MR. PATRICK O'BRIENI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether, seeing that officers in the department of the Comptroller and Auditor General are permanently employed auditing public accounts at Devonport Dockyard, and as Dublin is 947 not much further from London than Devonport, he can say in what respect it would be less convenient to have audit office officials permanently employed in Dublin; and whether this matter will be more fully considered, with a view to giving Ireland a proportionate part of the expenditure under the Exchequer and Audit Vote.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINThe expense and store accounts of the Navy are examined by officers at the Exchequer and Audit Department stationed at Devonport, Portsmouth, and Chatham, because of the necessity for constant reference to current books and records which could not be spared to send to London. Similarly, certain portions of the Irish accounts, such as public education, General Post Office, and others, are examined periodically in Dublin in order to avoid the inconvenience of transmitting to London the local records necessary for their examination. The ordinary accounts of receipt and expenditure of the Irish Departments, with the necessary supporting vouchers, are forwarded to, and examined at, Somerset House, where the duties of his officers are more conveniently performed under the direct supervision of the Comptroller and Auditor General.