§ MR. NANNETTII beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been directed to the reply given by the Commissioner of Police to the cab and car owners of Dublin in reply to their application for an extension of time for the payment of their licence duty; if so, will he, in view of the scarcity of employment, direct the Commissioner to extend the period for payment in all cases to the 27th March next; whether he will see to the period for payment being permanently fixed for the 1st July as heretofore; and, also, whether he will consider the advisability of proportionately reducing the licence duty paid in Dublin to the level of that paid in Cork and Belfast.
§ MR. WYNDHAMThe Commissioner of Police has expressed his willingness to consider individual applications for an extension of time. This offer, in my opinion, is a reasonable concession to the necessities of the situation. Prior to 1890 the licence duty on hackney cars was fixed at £2, and payable in two instalments, January and July. The duty was reduced to £1 in that year, and made payable in one sum in January or February. There are no sufficient grounds for altering the period for payment, or for reducing the existing duty on hackney vehicles in Dublin.