MR. FIELDI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he will facilitate the labourers, now in many parts of Ireland bordering on starvation, to acquire land for co-operative farming; whether he is aware the land of Ireland is only partly cultivated, thereby causing national loss; and whether he will consider the advisability of raising such a sum, upon security similar to that given for other advances, as will enable a loan of about £60,000 to be made to the labourers in each of the 32 counties in Ireland?
MR. J. MORLEYThere is no statutable power to make loans to acquire land for the purpose of co-operative farming; and without expressing an opinion one way or the other in regard to such a scheme, I can only say that at the present time it would be impossible to consider legislation on the subject.