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 Some info about CG accommodation
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| bpa |
Posted on 22/02/2010 22:33
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 Senior Member  Posts: 134 Joined: 11/11/2009 |
The following is an except from evidence given to a Parliament Select committee in Aug 1860 ( http://books.goog...xbAAAAQAAJ ) about page 179 but you can search for "coastguard". I found it when looking for info about living conditions with regard to my gt-gt-grandfather James Donovan. In June 1860 The committee are doing a Q&A. From about para 2021 onwards there is some info about Irish coastguard buildings, how they were built and the state of repair. Here is the except from para 2051 - reformatted into the Q&A. Q Do you attribute the present wretched state of the accommodation for the coast guard in Ireland, in any respect to the circumstance of those buildings not being placed directly under your department? A It could have nothing to do with it; we have not decided what buildings we should erect. Q. The fact of their being under the Board of Works does not affect the badness of the accommodation ? A. It has nothing to do with it; we have not asked the Board of Works to attend to it. Q How many men compose the coast guard in Ireland? A. One thousand four hundred and sixty-five. Q How many of those are lodged in proper houses? A. There are 61 stations having houses ; and out of the 1,465 officers and men, I think there is one in four who is found accommodation by the Government; the remainder find their own houses where they can. Q The Government pay the rent ? A The Government give them an allowance for the rent if they are on the ships' books; there are two classes of men in the coast guard now ; the men borne on the ships' books, and the men not borne on the ships' books, but who are on the coast-guard list; those on the ships' books receive a rate of pay, upon the Admiralty scale, with an allowance for their provisions, and to those men we make an allowance, in lieu of rent, not exceeding £5 ; the other men receiving their pay find their own houses, and if they live in Government houses, we charge them rent. Q You stated that the cost of repairs in Ireland was much greater during the 10 years succeeding the year 1845, than in the 10 years preceding that; do you attribute that to the circumstance of the work being heavier, or to the system being less economical ? A I cannot find out to what to attribute it. I have examined the accounts for 10 years without any reference to papers; but the returns show that during that year there was one item which I will mention; I think out of that we paid the Knight of Kerry, for the surrender of his premises, a large sum of money, and I think that that accounted for one large amount. Q Has any estimate been formed of the entire amount required to provide accommodation for the whole of the coast guard in Ireland ? A. It was never thought of; but at the rate at which you pay for a cottage in England, taking each at £200 , you may conceive what cottages for 1,000 men would cost. It will be necessary to consider the re-organization of the force some day with regard to its requirements; and when the Comptroller General comes to look at the position of the stations, some of them a mile away from the coast, and out of sight of the coast, where you cannot launch a boat, I do not think that he would replant stations for five or six men apiece. Q Have the votes which have been taken been in reference to your proposed plan ? A. They were taken with reference to the old proposal. Q [Mr. Laing.] I see that on the average about £1,000 a station for those 11 stations is the amount for which votes were taken? A. The only case that has been interfered with in any manner is as regards Morriscastle; Morriscastle is one of the stations where it was proposed to replace the old sort of coast guard; but when the captain had visited it in company with the surveyor of Board of Works, he came to the conclusion that it was advisable not to go on with it, but to change that in the same way; but it has not, been so ruled Edited by bpa on 23/02/2010 08:59 |
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| bpa |
Posted on 22/02/2010 23:20
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Senior Member Posts: 134 Joined: 11/11/2009 |
An earlier para 2004 Q Can you mention any instance in which a much larger outlay has been sanctioned than you would have thought requisite? A I can mention the instance of Kingstown Harbour, which was built by the Board of Works in a much more extravagant style than I should have sanctioned, certainly. Q On what grounds did the Board of Works sanction so extravagant an expenditure? A. I do not know; it is completely beyond my control. I cannot check anything in Ireland. I do not wish to reflect upon the Public Board of Works in Ireland, but before coming into office, my predecessor, Commodore Eden, called for a survey of the works in Ireland, and I find a memorandum on the report in his handwriting: " In many instances the coast guardsmen in Ireland are lodged worse than the cattle ; cases have been reported where the rooms are in such a dilapidated state that the men have been obliged to thatch the beds, and this at a time when their wives and children have been lying sick in them, the sickness having been produced by the cruel exposure to which they have been made subject." Q. [Sir John Shelley] When is that dated ? Q. The 29th December 1858. Q [ Mr. Augustus Smith.] Has that reference to any particular part in Ireland ? A. No, that is a general remark ; with this staring me in the face, I could hardly recommend a transfer of the buildings, from under my own control, as this is the result of things having been in that way. Edited by bpa on 23/02/2010 08:55 |
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