§ MR. DILLON (Mayo, E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Return, under the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Acts [C. 6925, 1893], has been continued in the same form to the present date; and, if not, whether he will direct a Return in that form for the last five years to be prepared and laid upon the Table at the earliest possible moment.
§ MR. WYNDHAMNo, Sir; the Return has not since been continued. It was expressly limited to transactions under the Acts of 1885, 1887, and 1888, and operations under these Acts ceased shortly after the preparation of the Return. With respect to sales under the Act of 1891, a Return has been annually presented to Parliament, giving detailed information concerning every advance made. Five of these Returns, 397 which are very voluminous, have been laid on the Table, and to tabulate the entries in the manner suggested would, I am afraid, occupy a large portion of the staff of the Land Commission for a very considerable period. I cannot say whether I could properly impose this additional labour on the Land Commission, but I will make further inquiry into the matter.