§ MR. O'NEILL (Antrim, Mid.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether, inasmuch as in the pursuance of the provisions of the Act 3 and 4 Will. 4, c. 37, the lessees of the lands held under bishops and other sole ecclesiastical commissioners in Ireland were empowered to purchase a perpetual estate in such lands at a perpetual rent, to be ascertained in the manner prescribed by the said Act, he could state to the House what is the annual amount of the rent now paid to the Irish Land Commission by such lessees; whether, as under Section 142 of the said Act the parties interested are entitled to have the rents revised every seven years, according to the increase or decrease in the price of corn or wheat for the seven years from the date from which the previous revision was made, and that the Act requires the calculation to be based upon returns published in the Dublin Gazette, he is aware that in consequence of the non-publication in the Dublin Gazette for some years of the average required by the Statute, no 1153 application could or can now be made to have the rents payable by the lessees revised in accordance with the Statute; and, whether Her Majesty's Government will take the necessary steps to enable all the lessees whose rents could not have been revised, in consequence of the default of the publishers of the Dublin Gazette, to apply to have their rents revised in the manner provided by the Act?
§ MR. G. W. BALFOURThe word "lessees" at the conclusion of the first paragraph has apparently been used in error for "purchasers," as the 142nd Section of the Statute referred to applies to purchasers and not lessees. The amount of perpetuity rents payable on the 31st March last to the Land Commission by such purchasers was £53,000. The statements in the second paragraph appear to be correct. As already stated, I cannot undertake to introduce legislation dealing with the case of the tenants referred to during the present session.