The EARL OF BELMOREasked the Lord Chancellor, Whether he can give any assurance that Her Majesty's Government will during the Recess take the matter of providing for the safe custody of the Parochial Records in Ireland into consideration, with a view to legislation early next Session?
THE LORD CHANCELLORsaid, he would most willingly give his noble Friend the assurance he required. The documents referred to by the noble Earl were, in reality, national documents, and he held it to be one of the first duties of a Government to provide for their safe custody. Of that, he thought, there could not be a second opinion. The only cause of delay in the matter arose from the difficulty of deciding the best manner in which the documents could be securely deposited, consistently with ready accessibility, and from the consideration of the question how far the emoluments gained in the various parishes by the keeping of these records ought to be the subject of compensation, and from what source compensation was to be provided. The details were under the consideration of the Government, and he hoped that early next Session they would be prepared to deal with the subject.
§ House adjourned at Six o'clock to Thursday next, a quarter before Four o'clock.