§ MR. JAMES O'CONNORI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the annual sum demanded from the County Wicklow towards the maintenance of the Richmond Lunatic Asylum has risen from £1,575 11s. 8d. in 1891 to £5,884 16s. 4d. in the present year, although the number of patients sent annually from the County Wicklow to Richmond Asylum has decreased from 43 in 1891 to 26 in 1900 and 1901; and whether he proposes to institute an inquiry into the cause of the annually increasing demands of the Richmond Asylum authorities upon the ratepayers of the County of Wicklow.
§ MR. WYNDHAMThe apportionment of the expenses of the Asylum is not regulated by the number of yearly admissions, but by the actual number of residentpatients belonging to each contributory area. The increase in the demands of the Asylum upon Wicklow arises from the increase in the number of resident patients from Wicklow; the 1266 increased amount required for repayment of loans due to the consequent extension of the Asylum; and the increase in the cost of maintenance. The reply to the second paragraph is in the negative; the matter is entirely in the hands of the Committee of Management with whom the Government cannot interfere.
§ MR. JAMES O'CONNORIs it not the fact that within ten years the change has increased from £1,575 to £5,800, although the patients have decreased in number?
§ MR. WYNDHAMNo, Sir. In 1891 there were 121 patients and now there are 174.
§ MR. JAMES O'CONNORThat is not according to the reply I received from the right hon. Gentleman.
§ MR. WYNDHAMThe hon. Member has been under a misapprehension; the question of apportionment is governed not by the number of yearly admissions but by the number of resident patients from each contributory district.