asked the Minister for Justice the total amount of funds lying unclaimed in the High Court as outlined in the Iris Oifigiúil of 22nd March, 1977; the interest on these funds; and if this interest is being used to the advantage of the Exchequer.
Written Answers. - Unclaimed Funds.
79.
Funds lying unclaimed in the High Court on 28th February, 1977, as outlined in Iris Oifigiúil of 22nd March, 1977, amounted to £1,097,591.25, representing the nominal value of the securities in which the funds are invested. Accumulated interest as at the same date amounted to £599,574.17.
As both the funds themselves and the interest on them are private property, they cannot be used either for the benefit of the Exchequer or for any other "extraneous" purpose except to such extent as may from time to time be authorised by statute, and any such statute authorising the use of some of the funds in a particular way includes a State guarantee that, if necessary, the amount authorised to be paid in that way will be made good from State funds.
The only such statutes passed since the foundation of the State were the Funds of Suitors Acts, 1959, 1963, and 1966, which provided for the payment from the general cash account of the funds of suitors of £750,000 to the Capital Fund for the rebuilding of the Abbey Theatre and the Cork Opera House; £70,000 to the trustees of the Honourable Society of King's Inns for the purposes set out in section 2 (4) (a) and (b) of the Funds of Suitors Act, 1959; and £3,000 to the Minister for Finance for the benefit of the Exchequer in recoupment of an equivalent sum paid in the year 1944-45 by way of a grant-in-aid to the King's Inns Library for the rebinding of books.