§ Mr. HACKETTasked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the chairman and two members of the Tipperary North Riding County Committee of Agriculture have been surcharged by the Local Government auditor, E. A. MacCarron, Esq., for the illegal payment of £80 made to the Tipperary North Riding Joint Committee of Technical Instruction; whether he can state the circumstances under which the County Committee of Agriculture made this payment to the Joint Committee of Technical Instruction; whether the County Committee of Agriculture had the sanction of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction to make the payment referred to, as required by the conditions of the schemes of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction; whether the payment in question was made by the County Committee of Agriculture by the direction of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction and with the knowledge and approval of their inspector; and whether, if so, he will recommend the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction to remit this surcharge?
193W
§ Mr. BIRRELLI am aware that the chairman and two members of the Tipperary North Biding Committee of Agriculture have been surcharged with a sum of £80 transferred by them out of the funds allocated to them for agricultural schemes and paid over to the Joint Committee of Technical Instruction, for the purpose of scholarships at the Dundrum School of Domestic Economy. This course was adopted with the sanction of the Department of Agriculture, who, however, subsequently saw reason to doubt its legality and suggested an alternative which was not adopted. The Local Government Board auditor held the transfer to be illegal. The Department have no power to remit the surcharge, but they have suggested a plan which they hope may afford a way out of the difficulty.