§ MR. PARNELLasked Mr. Attorney General for Ireland, Whether his attention has been directed to the cases of Garde v. Dunlea, and Garde v. Baylor, in the Exchequer Division of the High Court of Justice, Ireland; whether verdicts for £500 were given by direction of the Judge against both defendants at the last Clonmel Assizes; whether a new trial has now been refused Mr. Baylor; whether the cases arose because the defendants, who are merchants of Fermoy, county Cork, executed decrees for amounts under £14 and £6 for debts justly due to them by a tenant of plaintiff's, and thus, as was held, rendered themselves each liable for the full amount of a year's rent (£500), owed by this tenant to Mr. Garde, his landlord; if the Government intend to take steps to remedy the present state of the Law in Ireland, under which it appears possible for landlords, whose tenants are in arrear, to recover these arrears from any other creditors of the tenant who may attempt legally to enforce their claims; and, whether, as a verdict for the amount of the year's rent due to Mr. Garde in the cases under notice, £500 was returned against both Mr. Baylor and Mr. Dunlea, the landlord will be entitled to obtain the £500 from each separately, and afterwards to recover the same sum from his tenant?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. LAW)In answer to the Question of the hon. Member, I may say my attention has been directed to the cases referred to, and the facts are substantially as stated by him. The actions were brought by the landlord under the authority of a statute passed in the reign of Queen Anne, by which a tenant's goods are exempt from execution unless the execution creditors undertake to pay the rent due to the landlord not exceeding one year's rent. The question whether the liability was for the entire year's rent, or only the value of goods seized, was now the subject of an appeal from the judgment of the Exchequer Division. As to the question whether the Government will take steps to remedy the present state of the law in Ireland, I am not prepared to say they will do so. The law in England and in Ireland is in this respect identical; and, no doubt, it is one of those matters which may have to be considered in dealing with the Land Question. As to the final portion of the Question, whether the landlord can recover the full year's rent from each of the creditors, and afterwards from the tenant also, I venture to think he must be content with something less than three times his rent.