§ MR. J. DILLON (Mayo, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether the Treasury have authorised the Land Commission to reduce the rate of redemption of the tithe rent-charge in Ireland to twenty years' purchase; and, if so, what is the estimated capital loss which will result to the Church surplus from this reduction?
§ * MR. HANBURYIt is the fact that the Treasury have agreed, under the power conferred on them by Section 15 (2) of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1887, to allow of the redemption of tithe rent-charge, in sales under the Purchase Acts, at 20 years' purchase instead of the former figure of 22½, with a corresponding reduction in case of terminable tithe annuities. It is not possible to estimate with any precision the capital loss which this will cause, because it must depend on the amount of lands paying ecclesiastical, tithe sold under the Purchase Acts, and the rate at which such sales occur; but, judging by the experience of the last five years, the annual loss to the fund should not exceed £10,000 a year, at a liberal estimate.