§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether he is aware that in many electoral divisions in Ireland, under the adjustment order of the Irish Local Government Board, a rate which has accrued due in past years before the passing of the Local Government Act is about to be levied; whether the Irish Local Government Board have refused the application of several county councils in Ireland to permit the payment of this rate, which must now be borne exclusively by the occupiers, to be discharged by instalments, on the ground that such a course would be in contravention to law; and whether, having regard to the fact that the landlords are now exempted from contribution to this rate for the payment of half of which they would have been liable had it been levied when it accrued due, any steps will be taken to relieve the occupiers of a greater liability for the payment of this rate than that to which they were originally subject, having regard to the fact that the responsibility for the delay in the levy does not rest with them.
§ MR. G. W. BALFOURThis question presumably refers to an adjustment order, declaring in respect of each union the 83 balances due from electoral divisions to the union, and from the union to electoral divisions. The answer to the second paragraph is in the affirmative. As respects the last paragraph, no stops can be taken to relieve the occupiers of any portion of the rate for the adjustment of the balances due from electoral divisions to the union, nor on the other hand can any allowances be made to the landlord where a credit balance has been carried forward to a division by the order owing to the last rate made by the board of guardians on that division having been unnecessarily high. The debits and. credits to be adjusted are, generally speaking, insignificant.