§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Chief Secretary if he will state the present amount with compound interest of the residue fund of £5,538 9s., which in 1848 stood to the credit of the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and the Paymaster of Civil Services in Ireland, available to the board of control of the Royal Canal for the purposes of repairs of that canal in default of the Midland Great Western Railway Company discharging its obligations in that respect; to whose credit that money now stands; whether the board of control can now draw upon it in accordance with 11 and 12 Vic, c. 76; if not, when and how the board lost that power; whether compensation will be paid out of that fund to traders and boatmen now injured by the neglected condition of the canal; and whether the Irish Government can see its way to closing that account by transferring the fund to local trustees for the purpose of establishing and working on commercial principles a suitable manufacturing industry in Mul-lingar?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI am informed by the Board of Control of the Royal Canal that the enactments under which this money is held by the Paymaster-General in Ireland provide that it shall be held in trust for the Midland Great Western Railway Company, and that the interest shall be paid half-yearly to that company. There is therefore no accumulated interest available for the purposes specified in the question. The object of the enactment was to provide a fund to defray the expense of any works of restoration which the Board of Control may carry out with the Lord Lieutenant's approval. This is effected by enacting that, when any sum is expended for such a purpose out of this fund, the railway company shall be obliged to re- 1239W place it and shall not be able to declare a dividend until they have done so. The fund could not be diverted to other purposes save by legislation.