asked the Minister for Lands if he is aware that a sum of £51 was collected for the Land Commission under the Malicious Injuries Acts for damage by fire to a house on the lands of Ballinakill, Carbury, County Kildare; that, in error, this amount was collected from the electoral division of Ballinadrummy instead of the electoral division of Kilpatrick; and whether he will accordingly reimburse the ratepayers concerned who had the amount so collected from them in error.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Payments under Malicious Injuries Acts.
43.
If an error, as mentioned by the Deputy, occurred, it is not for my Department to take corrective action.
Did the Minister not receive the moneys from the ratepayers concerned?
This is the result of a malicious injuries claim, as the Deputy is aware. The damage was done and the Land Commission recovered this money after proceedings. If the area of charge is not correct, as suggested by the Deputy—and I am not sure—it is not for the Land Commission to do anything about the matter.
Surely the Minister is aware that the house was burned in the townland of Ballinakill in the electoral division of Kilpatrick, that the Minister made a mistake and claimed the house was burned in the townland of Ballinakill in the electoral division of Ballinadrummy and that accordingly the ratepayers in the electoral division of Ballinadrummy were made to reimburse the Minister incorrectly? He should now give back the moneys he took from them by false pretences.
The Minister made no mistake.
The Minister did.
There are townlands with the same name in Ballinadrummy and the Deputy, no doubt, is paid for putting matters of this kind right. The Land Commission is not.
Will the Minister make it clear to the House, because if not, I shall on the Adjournment, that it was the Land Commission that informed the court that it was the townland of Ballinakill in the electoral division of Kilpatrick where the house was burned? There is no use in the Minister trying by bad temper to suggest that I had any hand, act or part in the proceedings. It was the Minister's Department that made the botch.
Bad temper has nothing to do with the facts and will not change the facts. It was not the Land Commission's but the Guards' duty to give evidence in this matter. There are in fact townlands of this name in the electoral division to which I have referred. This is not a question for the Land Commission to take remedial action on but a question for those others concerned.
Does the fact that the Land Commission inspector gave evidence that the burning took place in the townland of Ballinakill in the electoral division of Kilpatrick not indicate the Minister was wrong?
No, because there are three townlands of the same name there.
There are not; there is only one.
The Deputy had better get the facts right.
The Minister should learn the facts. There is only one townland of that name. Bad temper does not cover untruths.