§ MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether, in view of the fact that the Imperial Government at present bears the charge for works and rates of the Colonial Audit Branch under the Controller and Auditor General, and that the Controller and Auditor General, the head of that branch, is paid out of Parliamentary funds, and in view of the present method of recruiting this branch, he will consider the advisability of amalgamating this branch with the 1514 Exchequer and Audit Department itself, of paying for the whole Department thus constituted out of Parliamentary funds, and of bringing to account as an Appropriation in Aid of the Exchequer and Audit Vote and the Office of Works Vote the total amount which should he received from Colonial or other funds for the upkeep of this Colonial Audit Branch.
(Answered by Mr. McKenna.) As already stated in my reply to the hon. Member on the 6th† and 14th† instant, a scheme for the reorganisation of the Colonial Audit Branch is under consideration, and I am not at present in a position to give any further information on the subject.