§ Mr. J. DILLON (Mayo, E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, what is the estimate of the ratable value and the acreage of the agricultural land in Ireland to which the relief proposed to be given by the Agricultural Land Rating Bill would extend if Ireland were included in the Bill?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe estimated total ratable value of Agricultural land in Ireland is £8,937,000, and the estimated total ratable area is 20,052,000 acres. This estimated area includes mountains, bogs, and waste lands, on nearly all of which there is some small valuation placed. It does not include 119,816 acres, the area of some 129 towns which have defined boundaries, but it does include that of the smaller towns and villages. The area deducted for the larger towns includes a considerable quantity of agricultural land not held as town parks, which would probably counterbalance any land held as town parks round the smaller towns and villages. The land under railways and canals has been deducted in arriving at the above total.