§ MR. JAMES O'KELLYTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he has received a copy of the resolution passed by the Roscommon County Council, asking the Commissioner of Valuation to forward the valuation lists for the county in the end of December in each year, and urging that, if necessary, the annual revision could commence earlier; and, if so, what action does he propose to take in the matter.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) The date by which the revised valuation lists must be issued is 1st March, as fixed by statutory Order; but, in order to meet the wishes of county councils, an arrangement was made some years ago by which the lists are issued unofficially to the county rating authorities a month earlier, namely, on 1st February. The date (15th June) by which the list of cases to be revised must be sent in could not be changed without legislation, and great inconvenience would be caused to the rating bodies by fixing an earlier date. It is not practicable to shorten the time occupied in making the annual revision.