§ Mr. ROBERT THOMPSONasked what local authority or association will be made legally liable for the maintenance of the Peamount Sanatorium; and out of what fund will the cost of maintenance be defrayed?
§ Mr. BIRRELLPeamount is held by trustees for the purposes of a sanatorium in connection with the National Insurance Act, and the cost of its maintenance will be met by contributions from the insurance committees who use it.
§ Mr. ROBERT THOMPSONasked the amount which the city of Belfast is entitled to receive, on the basis of population, from the Grant for the erection of sanatoria, etc.; and to what extent that amount has been affected by the Grant sanctioned for the sanatorium at Peamount, Dublin?
§ Mr. BIRRELLIf the whole of the Irish share of the Grant were distributed between county areas in proportion to population, the share of the city of Belfast would be £12,756, but the amounts immediately to be allocated to each county will necessarily be affected not only by its interest (if any) in the expenditure incurred out of the Grant to the Women's National Health Association of Ireland, but also by its interests in any part of the total Grant which it may be decided to apply to other general national services. The question of the principles upon which the Grant is to be distributed is still under consideration with the Treasury, and I am not yet in a position to make a complete statement on the subject.