HC Deb 23 August 1889 vol 340 c248
COLONEL NOLAN (Galway, N)

I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the next payment to Irish Poor Law Unions will be made out of the Probate Funds; and, what will be the probable amount?

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GOSCHEN, St. George's,) Hanover Square

The Probate Duties (Scotland and Ireland) Act provides that— All sums paid in respect of the probate duty grant to the local taxation (Ireland) account shall, until otherwise provided by Parliament, be annually distributed by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The last payment to the Unions was made last May, and the next payment will be made about the same time next year. If the Probate Duty this year yields about the same as last year, the grant to the Unions would come to about £92,500. As a matter of fact, the yield for the four months ended July 31 has been better than last year. The proportion of it payable to the unions amounts to about £33,000 for those four months. But, of course, it is impossible to say whether this improvement will be maintained during the rest of the year.