§ CAPTAIN DONELANOn behalf of the hon. Member for North Wexford, I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether any fresh arrangements are in contemplation for the payment of the troops in the various centres or depôts throughout Ireland; and, if so, whether such changes will involve the withdrawal of the banking business connected with the payments in question from the various Irish banks which have hitherto transacted it and will concentrate the whole of it in the hands of the Bank of Ireland alone; and, if so, whether, in view of the recently-adopted system of decentralisation, he will inquire into the matter, in view of the effect upon the banks of any arrangement of the character in question.
§ MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERUnder the new system the Army Accounts for each Command will be kept at the Headquarters of the Command, and the local officers will cease to hold cash. This necessarily involves changes in former banking arrangements. In accordance with the principle of decentralisation the choice of a bank or banks is left to the discretion of the local authorities.