Vol. 177 No. 1
I move:—
That for the purpose of any Act of the present session to provide for disposal of part of the funds of suitors vested in the Accountant of the Courts of Justice, it is expedient to authorise the advance out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof of such sum, not exceeding £323,000, as the Minister for Finance may think necessary so as to afford a complete indemnity to suitors for any loss which they might sustain by reason of the passing of such Act.
Could the Minister tell me how much money is in this Fund? How much money is there on which a claim has not been made in ten years, and how much was withdrawn?
There were about £860,000 approximately in all, and about £455,000 of that was withdrawn.
In the ordinary course.
In the period of the British.
That would leave about £350,000. I should like to see how much of that has been dormant for ten years. I am sure that the figure cannot be given exactly.
The whole £850,000 was regarded as being dormant—any sum not claimed within a period of 15 years.
Fifteen years?
Or further back. Funds have been accumulating for something like 200 years.
May I take it then that there are at least £400,000 in the Fund at the moment which have been unclaimed for ten years?
Something in the region of that figure.
How much money will be made available to the Abbey Theatre?
I shall deal with that in the course of my opening statement.
If the figures set out in the Bill are eventually distributed amongst the three beneficiaries, it will leave the dormant funds almost exhausted. According to my calculation, it will be taking away £323,000 out of about £400,000.
It will, in effect, exhaust the Fund.
But other funds will be creeping in so the Fund may accumulate to a higher point over the years. What is the average increase in the Fund? How much comes into the Fund as against which no claims are made over a decade? Probably the Minister could not answer that now.
It would not be possible to say exactly.
There must be an average over the years. I would not say that the average would be maintained but there would be an average by which the Fund is growing over a period of years. However, I shall raise this matter again.
Possibly we might be able to get the average over a certain time. I should rather imagine that it is something that grows and decreases in various years.
