§ MR. KNOX (Cavan, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether any statistics have been collected of the 367 number and acreage of holdings in each county in Ireland which have been let to be used wholly or mainly for pasture, or which have been so used for the last 20 years, and of holdings in each county in Ireland on which the tenant does not actually reside; whether such statistics will be presented to the House before Clause 6 of the Purchase of Land and Congested Districts (Ireland) Bill is reached in Committee; and whether, before Clause 6 is reached, statistics and other information will be presented to the House showing the number of applications under the Land Law (Ireland) Acts which have been refused by the Land Commission on the ground that the tenancies were excepted by s. 58, ss. 3 and 4, of "The Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881?"
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThere are no particulars in my possession of sufficient authority to warrant my laying them on the Table of the House in the shape of a Return. There has been a collection of figures dealing with Ireland as a whole, but I doubt whether they can be relied upon for each county. If the hon. Gentleman will put down a question for a later date, I will endeavour to give an answer as to the whole of Ireland. With regard to the last paragraph of the question, I am informed by the Land Commissioners that it will be impossible to give a Return in the form asked for.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYDo the figures make any distinction between fields in pasture and for grazing purposes?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURNo; the figures I have got do not draw a distinction. I have no reliable figures on that subject.
§ MR. T. M. HEALYWill they include the dairy farms of Munster?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI think the hon, Member had better wait until the figures are before him.
§ In reply to Mr. M. HEALY (Cork),
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURsaid: No detailed information of the kind desired has ever been attempted to be given. All that has hitherto been done has been to give a general Return.
§ MR. MAURICE HEALYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Land Commission, in ordering the redemption 368 of head rents under Section 16 of "The Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1887," have adopted any uniform scale of price; and what the average number of years purchase has been in the case of any head rents ordered to be redeemed?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe Irish Land Commissioners report that under Sub-section 3 of Section 16 of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1887, the redemption price of head rents is fixed as by agreement or by arbitration, and that, therefore, no uniform scale of price exists. The Commissioners are unable to give the average rate at which such redemptions have been made; but they state that the prices appear to have ranged between 18 and 28 years' purchase of the rent.
§ MR. CHANCE (Kilkenny, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether tenants purchasing their holdings under the Land Purchase (Ireland) Acts become owners within the meaning of Schedule A of the Income Tax Act; whether any allowance is made under that Schedule for the annual instalment payable by the purchasing tenant; and whether the Government intends to propose any alteration in the law in these respects?
§ MR. JACKSONThe answer to the first question is, Yes. In regard to the second, it is immaterial whether the purchasing tenant pays the whole price at once or by instalments. No allowance is made. The same practice is adopted throughout the United Kingdom.
§ MR. CHANCEIs the effect of purchasing to subject the purchasers to the payment of additional taxation?
§ MR. JACKSONThe hon. Gentleman had better give notice of that question.