asked the Minister for Defence whether a claim made on his department by Mr. Thomas McHale, the Western Woollen Hall, Ballina, for £71 15s. 10d. for goods supplied to members of the National Army in 1922, has been refused by his department on the grounds that the goods in question were commandeered by Irregular forces; whether this claim was examined by the officer of the National Army in charge of Ballina at the time, and was certified by him as being correct, and if, in the circumstances, he will have the claim reconsidered with a view to its settlement.
WRITTEN ANSWER. - BALLINA MERCHANT'S CLAIM.
Mr. Thomas McHale originally claimed the sum of £296 1s. 6d. for goods supplied. The claim was investigated locally by a representative of the Department of Defence, who reported in July, 1924, that a portion of the claim totalling £101 12s. 5d. was in respect of goods supplied to Irregulars. The balance of the claim for goods supplied to the National Forces was discharged on July 22nd, 1924, by a payment of £194 9s. In August, 1924, Mr. McHale admitted, in writing, that portion of the goods originally claimed for, to the extent of £58 14s., was supplied to Irregulars, but, despite that admission, he subsequently rendered another account for £71 15s. 10d. —the subject of the present question —in respect of the balance of his original claim as for goods supplied to the National Army. The claim in question was not certified by any officer of the National Army, and there are no grounds for its reconsideration.