asked the Minister for Finance whether his Department has been supplied with the original list of subscribers in Curraghroe, Co. Roscommon, to the Dáil Eireann (Internal) Loan, 1919-20, by the collector, Mr. Brian Nangle, county council, and when it is intended to repay these subscribers.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dáil Eireann (Internal) Loan, 1919-20.
A list purporting to be the original list of subscribers to the Dáil Eireann (Internal) Loan, 1919-20 in Curraghroe, Co. Roscommon, was furnished to my Department by Mr. Brian Nangle, of Mongagh, Curraghroe, Co. Roscommon. Mr. Nangle did not, however, indicate how the amount represented by the list was disposed of and he has failed to reply to communications from my Department asking for information on the matter. The question of the repayment of the subscribers concerned must be deferred until this point has been satisfactorily disposed of.
Mr. Boland
Is the Minister not prepared to accept that as the original list?
I think that Mr. Nangle should reply to the query put to him.
asked the Minister for Finance if he will state when it is proposed to complete the repayments of the Dáil Loan (Internal), 1919-20, to subscribers in the Aclare and Kilmactigue districts in the former Parliamentary constituency of South Sligo.
It would not be possible for me to indicate when repayment of subscriptions from these districts will be completed; the rate at which progress will be made in dealing with outstanding claims must depend to a considerable extent on subscribers and collectors, from whom certain information is required with a view to the disposal of claims. I may say, however, that every effort is being made to complete as rapidly as possible the task of effecting repayment to all subscribers who applied before the expiration of the prescribed time.
Could the Minister state why it is that no repayments so far have been made to subscribers in these districts?
I have no information on that point before me.
Perhaps the Minister may not be aware that the subscribers in Kilmactigue and Aclare are most of them very small farmers living along the side of the Ox mountains and in pretty reduced circumstances. These people subscribed very generously to the Loan to the extent of well over £200. That money was duly lodged on 17th May, 1920, in the Hibernian Bank in Ballymote for transmission to the Department. All the subscribers, I understand, have made application for a refund. Some of the collectors are in the United States, but there are, I think, three persons who collected this money living in Kilmactigue and Aclare, and I am sure if the Minister gets in touch with these persons they will be prepared to much as to the accuracy of the applications made. I would ask him to speed up the work in these particular districts as much as possible.
We are anxious to speed up the work, but the difficulty is that the special investigation of individual cases takes up time. For instance, there was a week recently when there were so many questions about individual cases, some of them in the Dáil and some by letter, that to reply to these questions took up the whole week of an official and that meant that really all the claims were delayed to an appreciable extent. So that it is not possible, without actually delaying the work, to investigate how particular cases stand. We are, however, trying to get through the work as rapidly as possible.
Might I suggest to the Minister the feasibility of sending one or more of his officials to these districts and to other districts where the money has not been refunded? These officials could take evidence from the applicants on the spot and could hear the statements of the collectors. The persons concerned could be brought, say, to some courthouse in one of the local towns. In that way, I think, it would be possible for the Department to clear up these repayments much more speedily.
That was considered, but it would be expensive, and at present it is not thought that it would speed up the work. It may be necessary to do that to deal with what will finally remain.
It seems much more expensive to occupy the time of one official for a whole week dealing with correspondence from one parish. It would be much more economical to send that official down to the district.