asked the Minister for Defence if he is in a position to state whether the military authorities have been furnished with a complete list of barrack furniture and other property handed over to them by the British army authorities previous to their evacuation of this country, if he is aware that a considerable quantity of such property was stolen or taken from many barracks previous to June 28th, 1922, if he can state how much of such stolen property has been recovered, whether the loss of such property or the renewal of same is to be a charge upon the general taxpayers of the Saorstát, and if he can state what steps he has already taken or intends to take in order to recover the property of the citizens.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - BARRACK FURNITURE.
Complete lists of barrack furniture and other property handed over to us by the British army authorities, previous to their evacuation of the country, are in our possession. I am aware that a considerable quantity of such property was stolen and destroyed by Irregulars prior to June 28th, 1922. It is not possible to state the comparative amount of such stolen or destroyed property. The loss of this property is loss to the State. It will be understood that it is undesirable to state what steps have already been taken, or it is intended to take, in order to recover whatever amount of this property may yet be recoverable. A certain amount of it has already been recovered.