§ MR. MAURICE HEALYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland how much of the total tithe rent-charge of £403,978 per annum mentioned in the Irish Church Commissioners' Report for the year ending 31st December, 1871, has been made available either by regular payments since or by sale; has any, and, if so, what, portion of this rental been claimed under the 70th section of the Church Act as private endowments of chapels; have any of these claims been discussed in open Court or on notice to the localities out of which the rent issues; how much of the total annual revenue mentioned in the said Report has been lost, either as the result of proceedings at Law or by neglect to recover; and were there any other items of annual revenue discovered after the said Report; and, if so, to what amount?
MR. J. MORLEYOf the total sum of £403,978 mentioned in the question, all has been made available except £139 a year. Portion of the above rental was claimed under the 70th section of the Act of 1869, amounting to £59 per annum. The claim referred to was in respect of certain tithe rent-charges in the benefice of Castledawson, and was admitted by order made in Chambers by Mr. Justice Lawson. The annual rent-charges cancelled as irrecoverable from various causes amounts to £80. The additional rent-charges discovered partly by investigation and partly acquired by purchasing the surrender or assignment of subsisting leases, pursuant to the 33rd section of the Church Act, amounts to £6,000. Further information relative to tithe rent-charge will be found in House of Commons Paper No. 75 of last Session.