§ MR. P. O'BRIEN (Kilkenny)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the Corporation of Kilkenny has to pay to the Treasury an annual sum of £50 for a patent to hold fairs, £55 per year tent for the old gaol and the city grand jury premises, and also £22 per year as rent charges to the Irish Land Commission; whether, seeing that the premises for which the £55 rent is charged were originally the property of the ratepayers, and that when acquiring them the Government paid no compensation to the ratepayers, will he take 543 steps to relieve them of this rent; whether the Treasury bears any of the cost of the fairs in Kilkenny; and, if not, whether he is prepared to urge upon the Treasury the advisability of waiving its claim for this impost upon the Corporation, which has to expend large sums in making provision for those fairs; whether he can explain what this £22 rent charge is for; and, whether he proposes to insert in the Local Government (Ireland) Bill a provision to remit all or any of those charges?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURI have not had time to look into this matter, but I think it is most improbable that it could be dealt with as suggested in the last paragraph of the Question.
§ MR. P. O'BRIENI will repeat the Question on the 6th June.