§ Mr. FIELDasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will take into consideration the advisability of appointing a board of control for Ireland, generally, to supersede the existing Treasury Remembrancer's functions, which, for practical purposes, is a sinecure, as the holder of the office scarcely exercises any supervision over the spending Departments in Ireland?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEI do not agree that the office in question is practically a sinecure. It is no part of the Treasury Remembrancer's duty to supervise the spending Departments, but he advises the Treasury on matters of Irish administration coming before the Board, and is Deputy-Paymaster for Ireland. The latter functions could not suitably be given to a board, and I think that the Treasury obtains the assistance it requires in the other matters better from a single officer than it would from a board. I do not propose, therefore, to take any action in the sense suggested.