§ MR. BOLAND (Kerry, S.)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Foreign Office will instruct all its Consuls to embody in their Reports for the year 1905 a special Report as to the existence or non-existence, as the case may be, of trade relations between Ireland and the country or district to which they are accredited, with a view to determining whether the statistics as regards Irish trade shall be kept distinct in all future Consular Reports from those of Great Britain.
§ THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Earl PERCY,) Kensington, S.There is no objection to requesting His Majesty's Consuls to
† See (4) Debates, cxxxvii., 159.552 state in their Reports for 1905 whether, so far as they can ascertain, any trade is carried on between their respective districts and Ireland. But as the Secretary to the Board of Trade has already informed the hon. Member, Consuls are dependent for official statistics of the trade of their districts on the authorities of the countries in which they reside, and the question of keeping separate records of such trade is one solely for the foreign Governments concerned.