§ MR. FLYNN (Cork, N.)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he ran state the grounds upon which the Treasury ignore the application of the parish representatives for a refund pro rata of the amount contributed by them out of the purchase price offered for two teachers' residences in Kingwilliamstown, County Cork; are the Treasury authorities aware that the parish raised a considerable sum by way of contribution towards the erection of these residences, but they were vested in the Commissioners of National Education; that the parish priest, the Very Reverend Canon Riordan, frequently called the Commissioners' attention, and through them that of the Board of Works, to the condition of disrepair into which these houses were allowed to fall, and that inspectors of the Commissioners also complained of, and reported upon, their condition, notwithstanding which no steps were taken by the Board of Works towards their repair and necessary upkeep; and whether, in view of this continued neglect on the part of a public department, whereby the dwellings have now to be offered for sale, the Treasury will refund to the parish's responsible representative a reasonable 398 share of the purchase money received from their sale.
(Answered by Mr. Hobhouse.) The aplication of the parish representatives has not been ignored. The residences before erection were estimated to cost not less than £400. One half of this sum was contributed from public funds, the parish representatives, who were solely responsible for the erection of the houses, undertaking to defray the remainder of of the cost. The residences were built at a cost considerably below the estimate, only £61, in addition to the Government grants, being spent on the work. There has been no neglect by the Board of Works to maintain the buildings since erection. Since the buildings were completed in 1880, in consequence of the original under-expenditure by the local authorities, a sum of £250 has had to be spent on repairs and maintenance out of public funds, which would have been unnecessary if the full amount of the estimated cost had been spent on the erection of the houses. The local representatives have therefore received more than the full assistance to which they are entitled in respect of the erection and maintenance of the buildings, and in the circumstances I do not consider that they have a claim to any portion of the purchase money.