MR. J. E. EEDMOND (Wexford, N.)asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Whether any schemes for a reduction in the Irish Excise Department have been submitted to the Treasury; and, if so, whether any of them have been sanctioned; whether it is contemplated to reduce the Inland Revenue Excise Staff in Ireland by about 70 officers; and, if so, whether, in the granting of probate and letters of administration, serious inconvenience will be caused to tenant farmers and others who cannot afford to employ a solicitor; whether, in many localities, the nearest Revenue Officer will be 30 or 40 miles distant; and, whether there will be a loss to Ireland, if this change be carried out, of £14,000 a-year in salaries?
§ SIR HERBERT MAXWELL (A LORD of the TREASURY) (Wigton)(who replied) said: No such schemes as are here referred to have been submitted to the Treasury. It is in contemplation to reduce the Inland Revenue Excise Staff in Ireland; but not to the extent anticipated by the Question. It is likely that some places will be 30 miles from the residence of an officer of Inland Re- 994 venue; but such places are thinly populated, and very little, if any, inconvenience is apprehended in the case of persons desiring letters of administration or probate. The aggregate of the salaries represented by the reduction of the establishment is considerably less than the amount stated.