I move:—
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £4,300 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending 31st March, 1952, for certain Miscellaneous Expenses, including certain Grants-in-Aid, Compensation and other Payments in connection with Injuries to Property (No. 24 of 1941) and payments of Compensation for Death or Personal Injuries.
The title of this Estimate may be somewhat misleading, since neither death nor personal injuries are involved, but rather the destruction of property arising out of the fire which took place on the premises of the National Theatre Society in Abbey Street in July last. The purpose for which the money is required is to enable the National Theatre, or the Abbey Theatre, as it is more properly called, to be carried on and to be maintained until the premises are rebuilt, as we hope will be done in due course.
I do not wish the House to assume from what I have said that the £4,300 will be sufficient to tide the Abbey over until the theatre is rebuilt, but it is the sum which the directors of the National Theatre Society have estimated will be required to enable them to continue for the balance of the financial year.
