§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he has received a memorial from those entitled calling for the winding-up and distribution of the Irish Constabulary Force Fund; whether he has tested the assertion of those persons that the fund was never truly insolvent but had been improperly drawn upon for extraneous purposes; and whether an audited statement showing the effect of those transactions will be circulated among the persons entitled and their votes taken on the question of immediate winding-up and distribution?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe memorial referred to has been received. In 1891, as a result of an inquiry held by the Treasury, it was found that the fund, as it then stood, would not be able to discharge all the claims accruing against it, but the sum of £150,000 then voted by Parliament placed the fund upon a perfectly sound footing. The fund was never improperly drawn upon for extraneous purposes. As I have already stated, the accounts of the fund are audited annually by the Comptroller and Auditor-General, and I see no grounds whatever, either in connection with the state of the fund itself or the future prospects of the Royal Irish Constabulary, for calling for the premature winding-up of the fund. If the fund is not wound up before the date of the transfer of the Royal Irish Constabulary to the Irish Government, it will remain under the control of the National Debt Commissioners, as it is at present, subject to the statutory trusts for which it was created.
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§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Chief Secretary the date at which the Irish Constabulary Force Fund began to be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General; whether a full account of the fund prior to that date may be examined now by a person appointed by those entitled to the fund; what sum was paid out of the fund to Inspector-General Reid; by what authority that payment was made out of a trust fund; what sums were paid to other non-contributors; what sums were paid out of this trust fund for extraneous purposes during the term of office of the official named French who eventually fled from justice; the nature of the offence on account of which he fled; whether an examination of those payments and the recorded purpose will be allowed; and whether the sum of £150,000 voted by Parliament in 1891 was intended to recoup this fund for the unwarranted payments that had been made out of it?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe accounts of this fund have been audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General since the establishment of his Department, and I do not see that any useful object would be served by having them now examined by a private individual. No grants of money were made to Sir A. Recd or Mr. French out of the benefit branch of the fund; any payments made to them were made out of the reward branch, which is entirely distinct and is derived from fines and penalties. No sums have been paid from the benefit branch to non-contributors, nor has the fund ever been improperly drawn upon for extraneous purposes. The £150,000 voted by Parliament in 1891 was to enable the fund to meet liabilities incurred through the adoption of too generous a scheme of benefits.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Chief Secretary whether the subscribers to the Irish Constabulary Force Fund, whose property it is, have no voice in its administration; whether the memorial he has received from them discloses dissatisfaction and anxiety regarding its administration, and a desire to have it wound up and distributed; and will he say on what grounds this request is refused?
§ Mr. BIRRELLSubscribers to the Constabulary Force Fund Benefit Branch have no voice whatever in its control or management. The Statutes under which the Fund was established provide that it is to be administered under rules sanctioned by the Lord Lieutenant, and all1512W payments out of the Fund have regularly been made under his authority. There are no grounds, either in relation to the present state of the Fund or its administration to give rise to any anxiety, and no equitable distribution of the moneys to its credit could be made except in the present normal way of paying all claims of widows and orphans as they arise.