asked the Minister for Justice if he will arrange to transfer the responsibility for the maintenance of courthouses to the Department of Justice; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

The Courthouses (Provision and Maintenance) Act, 1935, obliges local authorities to provide and maintain in their functional areas such courthouse accommodation as the Minister for Justice shall direct.

To remove that responsibility from local authorities would require legislation. As has been indicated to the House on a number of occasions in the past I could not, in the context of parliamentary questions, say whether or not I have proposals for legislative changes in particular areas. Such proposals are announced, in the ordinary way, only after Government approval.