§ Mr. GINNELLasked, in view of the fact that persons who paid insurance premiums to the Irish Provident Assurance Company are now officially informed that probably the process of liquidation will last twelve months more, resulting in nothing to distribute, whether the Chief Secretary will say what steps, if any, the Irish Government are now taking to prevent the four similar groups of persons calling themselves societies now collecting insurance premiums from poor people, paying most of the money in salaries to themselves, going into liquidation timed to last while there is any money to pay lawyers and officials, leaving nothing for the persons supposed to be insured?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Government have no information that insurance premiums are collected in Ireland in the circumstances stated by the hon. Member. No action can be taken except in the case of a criminal offence, capable of being proved by legal evidence.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies took any notice of, or any steps to prevent, the Irish Provident Assurance Company getting their agents to cease calling for certain premiums and then treating the insurances as lapsed and all the money paid as forfeited; and, seeing that this class of insurance is carried on among the poor, whether the Chief Registrar will prevent the practice by groups of persons of conduct which would expose an individual to legal consequences?
Mr. McKINNON WOODI understand that the Irish Provident Assurance Company was registered under the Companies Act, and not under the Friendly Societies Act. The Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies has, therefore, no jurisdiction in the matter.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Secretary to the Treasury, in view of the statement of the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies that he has no knowledge of persons registered with him as collecting societies who are publicly carrying on insurance business of the kind found by the Irish Courts to be illegal in the case of the Irish Provident Insurance Company, will he explain why the Chief Registrar refused in that case, and refuses in similar cases, to receive what is public knowledge in the business of his department; when registration is used as a licence to trade on the 1418 credulity of the poor, whether the Chief Registrar has power to suspend the registration; whether he inquired into bona fides before registering, under the name of Ireland's Life Assurance Collecting Society, an official of the Guardian Bank, using bank money and bank premises, and now spending the premiums on himself and his staff; and whether, before allowing this institution to involve more people, he will test these facts and any denial of them?
Mr. McKINNON WOODWith regard to the first part of the question I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I have just given him. With regard to the remainder of the question, the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies can only suspend the registration of a society on proof to his satisfaction that the society exists for an illegal purpose or in the other cases specified in Section 77 of the Friendly Societies Act, 1896. If the hon. Member will furnish the Chief Registrar with particulars of any cases of illegal action on the part of Ireland's Life Assurance Collecting Society or its officers they will be duly investigated.
§ Mr. GINNELLMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether a bogus company is not an illegal company?
§ Mr. GINNELLWill the right hon. Gentleman inform the House how the Chief Registrar manages to know nothing about bogus companies until the harm is done?