asked the Minister for Finance if he will state whether subscribers to the Dáil Eireann Loan, 1920, who applied for repayment after March 31st, 1929, and who produced receipts which proved they were on the Register, will now be paid.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Repayment of Dáil Eireann Loan.
It has not been the practice of my Department to make any distinction, as regards entitlement to repayment, between cases in which receipts are produced and those in which no receipts are available; nor, in fact, has any distinction been made between cases which are recorded in the Primary Register and cases in which the names of the subscribers were not furnished at the time the Loan was raised.
Although the progress made in the repayment of the Loan since the date of closing down applications has not been as great as was hoped, very considerable advance has been made in the investigation of claims, and it is expected that in the course of a few months large repayments will be effected. If the suggestion which the Deputy makes were adopted, I could not refuse to entertain applications from subscribers in cases in which no receipts are available, and such an extension would involve the investigation of every claim which might be received, with consequent delay in the repayment of cases where application had been made within the specified period, i.e., prior to 30th April, 1929. In the circumstances the adoption of the Deputy's proposal does not seem to me advisable.
Surely the Minister believes that there is a difference between a person with a receipt and a person who states that he subscribed but who has no receipt. Does not the Minister consider that where a duly stamped receipt has been produced immediately after April, or May, or June, he should in such cases make provision for repayment?
The existence or absence of a receipt is often a mere matter of accident. It is only this difference that the receipt does provide evidence which it sometimes might be difficult for a person who has not a receipt to obtain. I think everybody who makes application has to be considered in the same way.
Does the Minister indicate that the people who made applications after the date mentioned by the Minister will have their claims entertained?
I did not say that.