§ MR. H ENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state, approximately, what was the annual rental paid by Irish tenants in the year 1881; what is the total amount, in pounds sterling, of reduction of rent on the Irish estates made since 1881, that is, the amount paid last year compared with 1881; and whether he can give approximately the number of tenants who have converted their holdings into free-holds since 1881, the area, and the amount paid or to be paid for purchase of same.
§ MR. WYNDHAMThere is no official information of the rental of agricultural lands in Ireland in 1881. An examination of the Land Commission records show that in the case of the holdings in respect of which fair-rent applications or agreements have been served or filed, a formal rental of £7,022,017 is now represented by a judicial rental of £5,198,488—a reduction on the non-judicial rental of 25.9 per cent. In many 782 of these cases the tenants, since the rents were fixed, have purchased their holdings. The number of tenants to whom advances for the purchase of their holdings have been made between 1881 and the 30th June, 1904, is 75,292. The area of their holdings is 2,563,279 acres. The amount advanced is £25,089,163.