§ MR. FLYNN (Cork, N.)To ask the First Lord of the Treasury if he can state what the Parliamentary representation of Ireland would have been ii determined on the basis of population at the time of the passing of the Reform Act of 1832 and in the years 1842 and 1852 respectively.
544 (Answered by Mr. A. J. Balfour.) It is not practicable to state what was the precise population in the years mentioned in the Question, but it is probably sufficient to take the figures in the Reports of the Census taken in the years 1831, 1841, and 1851 respectively. On this assumption, and taking the number of Members of the House of Commons as 658, the Parliamentary representation of Ireland in the years 1832, 1842, and 1852 would, on the basis of population, have apparently been 212, 201, and 157 respectively.