§ MR. J. MACVEAGH (Down, S.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the attention of the Local Government Board auditors in Ireland will be called to the decision of the Lord Chief Justice of England, Mr. Justice Darling, and Mr. Justice Phillimore, in the London Courts on Tuesday, to the effect that local authorities are not bound to accept the lowest tender unless negligence or fraud can be shown; and whether, under these circumstances, local authorities in Ireland will be authorised to give the preference to local contractors where they are satisfied that the value is better even if the price be higher, or where they believe that the district will benefit by the expenditure being kept in the country.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Local Government Board for Ireland are required by statute to decide, on appeal, as to the lawfulness of the reasons stated by auditors for making surcharges. They are consequently not in a position to give their auditors any directions as to the grounds on which their decisions should be based. Arrangements, however, were made some years ago by the Board with the object of bringing under the notice 338 of auditors legal decisions, such as that referred to in the Question, as a guide to them in the performance of their statutory duties, and attention will be drawn to this case in the usual course. Under Section 18 of The Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1902, special statutory powers and duties are imposed on the auditors in cases of the acceptance of tenders for public works which are not the lowest tenders. The district councils or proposal committees who accept such tenders are not the ultimate paying authoritiy. The Board, therefore, are not in a position to authorise local authorities to act as suggested in the concluding part of the Question.