HC Deb 20 March 1912 vol 35 cc1888-9
Viscount CASTLEREAGH

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been drawn to the conflicting statements made by the official insurance lecturers in Ireland in respect of the amount allocated to Ireland for the building of sanatoria, Mr. Murphy having said at Kilkenny, on 6th March, that £136,000 was so allocated, and Mr. Francis Guy, another official lecturer, having said at Tuam, on 27th February, that the amount so allocated was £100,000; and whether he will state the amount actually allocated for the erection of sanatoria in Ireland under the National Insurance Act, and communicate the figure to the official lecturers in Ireland?

Mr. MASTERMAN

The proportion of the total sum of £1,500,000 available for the provision of, or making Grants-in-Aid to sanatoria and other institutions, which will be allotted to Ireland must, in accordance with Section 64 (1) of the Act depend upon the population, as shown in the Census of 1911, of which the preliminary figures only are at present available. The Noble Lord will see that, according to these preliminary figures, the total sum available for Ireland for Grants and building would work out at rather more than the higher of the two sums mentioned in the question, and for buildings alone would probably be a considerably less amount. No figures given by the lecturers claimed to be more than a rough indication of the sums that might be available for each of these two purposes, the precise amounts of which will be ultimately determined by the Local Government Board for Ireland.