asked the Minister for Finance if he will State the total sum now invested in Prize Bonds.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Prize Bonds.
The amount invested in Prize Bonds at 8th November, 1958, was £10,297,000.
Will the Minister say "Thank you" to his predecessor?
I said it several times already. I am glad to say that I was not overburdened with any other thanks.
asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider introducing amendments to the Prize Bond scheme (a) to enable the prize money in respect of a winning bond to be paid to the personal representatives of a deceased holder who died within the month preceding the draw, and (b) to enable the draws to be held more frequently than twice yearly.
As regards (a) of the Deputy's question, may I explain that under the present scheme Prize Bonds are not transferable in any circumstances? The person who signs the application form at the time of purchase remains the owner until he cashes the bond or dies. The prospectus provides that on the death of the holder of a bond his personal representatives should apply to the Bank of Ireland, Dublin, for repayment. After the owner cashes the bond or dies, the bond is in principle no longer eligible to participate in draws for prizes.
It is necessary, however, for the purpose of determining what bonds participate in a particular draw to have a critical date. This is laid down in the prospectus as the commencement of the month in which the draw is held. Bondholders who have cashed their bonds or died before that date are not eligible for prizes. Bondholders who cash their bonds or die after that date are eligible for prizes. I cannot see that there would be any particular advantage in fixing the critical date as a month before the draw rather than the commencement of the month in which the draw is held. Whatever date is selected there are bound to be borderline cases.
I may add that where a Prize Bond is purchased in two names jointly, for instance in the names of a husband and wife, the bond becomes the sole property of the survivor on the death of one of the holders and continues to participate in future draws until it is cashed or the survivor also dies.
Where a bond is drawn for a prize and it transpires subsequently that the owner had died before the critical date the value of that prize is not surrendered to the Exchequer but is awarded to the next bond drawn at the same draw. The prize that bond had drawn passes to the next bond in due order and so on. The last prize on the list passes to the first bond on a reserve list of numbers drawn at the conclusion of the draw proper to provide for this contingency.
As regards (b) of the question, the expense involved in having more than two draws a year would not be warranted by the volume of investment in Prize Bonds.
Would the Minister not reconsider the original regulation made in respect of a bondholder? I am sure the Minister is aware that the reason for that regulation was to prevent making bonds transferable with the administrative cost that the setting up of a scheme for transfer would involve. I think the Minister will find that would not apply in the case of death alone. I think he should, therefore, reconsider the matter purely in death cases.
There was a rather long legal argument on this question of which, perhaps, the Deputy is aware. It was the final opinion of the lawyers that the present scheme was the best scheme. I do not like to interfere with lawyers in a matter of this kind.
Would the Minister agree to re-examine the question to see if an amendment on these lines could be devised?
Yes.
Could the Minister arrange for the interest earned by the bond to be returned, in addition to the amount due?