§ MR. SHEEHAN (Cork, Mid)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in view of the discontent caused and hardship felt by tenants of holdings and houses rated at £4 per annum and under, owing to the operation of the Local Government Act, which compels them to pay the rates hitherto borne by the landlord, and having regard to the difficulty of efficient collection of rates from a poor class of occupiers, whether he will consider the advisability of introducing a short amending clause into the Local Government (Ireland) Bill now before this House, which would revert to the former practice and cast upon immediate lessors the duty of paying rates upon tenements and holdings rated at £4 and under.
§ MR. WYNDHAMThe suggested Amendment would not be germane to the Bill now before the House. Apart from this, however, I would point out that the alteration in the law suggested would be opposed to the principle on which the Local Government Act of 1898 was based, namely, that the burden of the rates should fall on those to whom the electoral power is given.