A £3 bonus for triplets – Government to wind up century-old contingency fund
The Government is to wind down a contingency fund established in 1923 and previously used to pay a “bounty” to the parents of triplets and to reimburse Dublin Corporation for the cost of sending fire brigades to Belfast during the second World War. Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers will brief Cabinet on plans to wind down the fund, which holds €1.2 million and has not been used for 22 years. It was established to pay for unexpected expenses – with an initial budget of £20,000 for costs not covered by normal allocations – although it was also used, Dáil records show, for a £3 bounty to the parents of triplets. In 1930 it was also used to reimburse the government representative for expenses incurred in travelling to the funeral of French general Marshal Ferdinand Foch, and for advances towards the expenses incurred by the British vice-consul at Suez “in…