§ MR. O'BEIRNEsaid, he wished to ask the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether his attention has been directed to the inequality of taxation between Great Britain and Ireland shown by Return No. 345, printed by Order of this House on the 22nd June last, by which it appears that the amount of Revenue for each £100 of assessed Property and Income Tax paid by Great Britain in the year 1854 was £23 18s. 11¼d.; while that paid by Ireland was £27 15s. 11d.: the amount paid by Great Britain in 1861 was£21 9s. 5½d.; that paid by Ireland was £29 2s. 11½d.: and that paid by Great Britain in 1866 was £17 14s.; while that paid by Ireland was £29 10s. 7½d. per cent.: and, whether he proposes, during the Recess, to consider this inequality of taxation with a view to its being remedied?
§ MR. SCLATER-BOOTHsaid, in reply, that as the Question affected the Treasury, perhaps the House would permit him to answer the hon. Member's Question. The attention of Her Majesty's Government had been drawn to the Return lately moved for by the hon. Member, and an inquiry had been made and was being continued into the causes which appeared to show, on the face of a Return the hon. Member referred to in his Question, what was certainly not in accordance with the common impression, that the taxation of Ireland was in a higher ratio than that of England. One cause probably that tended to that was that the basis of Schedule A in Ireland was notoriously lower than the basis of Schedule A in England.