asked the Minister for Finance if he will state how much of the sum of £41,077 described in the Statement of Accounts of the Central Bank for the year ended 31st March, 1951, as "Salaries, wages and other remuneration" was expended on (a) salaries; (b) wages, and (c) other remuneration.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Central Bank Expenditure.
As stated in reply to a similar question put by the Deputy on 22nd November, the particulars asked for are outside the scope of the information which it is necessary for me in the public interest to require from the Central Bank. The accounts of the bank are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General and presented to Dáil Érieann with his certificate. They contain all the information statutorily required of the bank.
The governor and board of the bank were originally appointed in 1943 and the governor and several of his colleagues were reappointed in 1950 or early in 1951. I feel that they can be trusted to administer the affairs of the bank without being subjected to petty accounting queries.
Do I take it that the Minister in effect declines to tell the House and the country how this sum is spent by the Central Bank?
The Deputy can only take it that it is not necessary in the public interest to ask for these petty accounting details. The governor and the majority of his colleagues were reappointed or appointed by the last Government and I think that the Dáil can trust the bank and the Comptroller and Auditor-General to take care of a sum of this kind, particularly when the Dáil has entrusted the bank with £80,000,000 or £100,000,000.
Will the Minister state why it is not in the public interest to disclose how these vast sums are spent?
If the Deputy were in charge of the Central Bank I might think it in the public interest to make the inquiries about the £41,000 referred to in the question, but I do not think that it is now necessary in the public interest to make them.