§ Mr. T. M. HEALYasked the Prime Minister whether, as First Lord of the Treasury, he was consulted with regard to the appointment of a Committee to inquire into the question of the extension of medical benefits to Ireland; will he state what precedent exists for the appointment of a Treasury Committee to examine witnesses in various towns in Ireland; when did any previous Treasury Committees hold public sittings in Ireland; to what official is the report of such Committee addressed; who decided on the personnel of the Committee, its number, and the terms of reference; has any Irish Member of Parliament previously sat on a Treasury Committee which has taken evidence in Ireland; has any Member of Parliament previously held any public inquiry in Ireland into the working of any Statute or as to proposed legislation except with the authority of Parliament, or of a Royal or Vice-Regal Commission, and, if so, when; was this Committee suggested by the Lord Lieutenant or by the Chief Secretary for Ireland; if not, at whose suggestion was it created; do any minutes or correspondence exist as to its appointment; if so, will they be laid before the House; what other British Departments of State enjoy authority to appoint similar Committees to take evidence in Ireland; what is the distinction in practice or procedure between a Royal or Vice-Regal Commission and such Committee; why was not a Commission resorted to; what officer of State 571W was applied to to secure that the necessary expenses of the Committee and of witnesses would be borne by the Government; by what Minister owning Parliamentary responsibility was the application to sanction the proposed outlay made, and was the application in writing; and can he give the reference to any Estimate in former years in which the expenses of Members of Parliament and of witnesses at a similar Treasury inquiry in Ireland have been voted?
§ The PRIME MINISTERThe Committee was appointed by the Board of Treasury, of which I am a member. Sanction to the payment of its expenses from public funds was given by that Board, on the recommendation of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Committee will report to the Board. In all these points the procedure follows that adopted in the analogous case of the Committee under the Chairmanship of my hon. Friend the Member for Inverness-shire, which inquired recently into the provision of medical attendance in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. As an Irish precedent, I may quote the Treasury Committee on the Royal Hibernian Academy and the Metropolitan School of Art, the expenses of which were defrayed from the Vote for Temporary Commissions in 1905–6 and 1906–7, and on which an Irish Member of Parliament served. There can, to my mind, be no question that Departments of State are competent to make in any part of the United Kingdom any inquiries that may be necessary in order to discharge on behalf of the Government the duties incumbent upon them. The procedure adopted by Committees and Commissions is substantially identical. The answer to the eleventh and eighteenth parts of the question is in the affirmative, and to the twelfth in the negative.