asked the Minister for Finance if he will state (a) the original amount which was in the Kilmainham Trust Fund, (b) the present amount in the Fund, (c) particulars of the amounts disbursed giving expenditure in each case, and (d) when the balance will be distributed among disabled members of the Army, including the old IRA.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Kilmainham Trust Fund.
55.
Particulars of the Trust Funds of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, comprising £10,474 17s 6d 2½ per cent British Consolidated Stock, are set out in the Schedule to the Royal Hospital Kilmainham Act, 1962. Excluding a small amount of £369 4s in the Bank of Ireland, these funds are held by the Accountant of the Courts of Justice, to whom the interest has been paid.
Pursuant to section 4 (a) of the Act, certain payments out of the income on the Trust Funds fall to be made to the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, towards the cost of maintenance of the pensioners who were in the Kilmainham Hospital in 1922 and who were maintained thereafter by the Chelsea Hospital. The sum of £2,440 7s 4d has been received from the Accountant of the Courts and has been paid over to Chelsea Hospital. The further payments specified in the section will be made when the appropriate sums are received from the Accountant's office.
The accounts of the Funds are not held in my Department, and particulars of the amount in the Funds, in addition to the holdings of consolidated stock referred to above, are not readily available. The High Court has ordered that a scheme should be made for the management and application of the trust funds. When the scheme has been made, I shall be in a position to inform the House of the amount available to provide benefits under the scheme. Pending the making of the scheme, the Trust Funds will continue to be held by the court and no payment can be made out of the Funds to any person except as may be expressly authorised by the court.
Can the Minister say when it is likely that such a scheme will be made?
I am afraid I cannot but it is under way.
Does the Minister not agree that it has been under way for quite some time? It appears as if everybody had forgotten about it until this question was put down.
No. The direction to establish the scheme is there and it is being pursued.
Can I take it that the Minister is now pursuing the matter, or should I put down a further question later on in the year?
It is not up to me to pursue it really. It is a matter for the courts.
May I inquire as to whether the initiative on the settling of the scheme by the High Court rests with the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests or who is it who is charged with moving the court to make such a scheme?
The court has given a direction. It may possibly have been the Charitable Commissioners who moved for it.
Perhaps the Minister would go into that and lay his finger on whoever happens at the moment to be dawdling?
Would the Minister not agree that the fact that this matter has now been aired in the House may bring to the notice of the people concerned that they should proceed with the scheme?