CAPTAIN CRAIGI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, the amount of Government money allocated to the county of Down annually for the past three years in respect of labourers cottages tinder the Labourers Acts prior to 1906; and what will the maximum amount be for any one year for that county under the Act of 1906.
* MR. BRYCEThe amount of Government money allocated to the county of Down annually for the past three years in respect of labourers cottages was as follows:—March, 1906, £2,010 18s. 7d.; March, 1905, £2,027 13s. 8d.; March, 1904, £2,027 13s. 8d. There is an unissued balance at present of £3,264 15s. 5d. Under the new Act, 36 per cent. of the annuity payable in respect of loans obtained after 1st November last from the Land Commission for the purposes of the Acts will be paid partly out of the Labourers Cottages Fund and partly by the Treasury through the Ireland Development Grant. This amount will depend on the extent to which the district councils in the county may put the Act into operation. The councils will also get, in respect of all cottages provided before that date, their proportionate share of the Exchequer contribution.