§ MR. VINCENT KENNEDY (Cavan, W.)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that 10s. 6d. stamp duty is charged on affidavits or memorials in Ireland if sworn before a magistrate, and if the same be sworn before a Commissioner for Oaths the stamp duty is 13s. 6d. with Commissioner's fee in addition; and whether, in view of the confusion and inconvenience this difference of practice entails, the matter will have immediate attention.
(Answered by Mr. McKenna.) The stamp charges on the registration of memorials are made up of several items, of which the only one that varies by reason of the authority before whom an affidavit or declaration is sworn, is the duty of 2s, 6d., chargeable under the head of "Affidavit and Statutory Declaration" in the schedule to The Stamp Act, 1891. By No. 2 of the exemptions under that head, this duty of 2s. 6d. is not chargeable on an affidavit or declaration "required by law, and made before a justice of the peace." It is not very clear why the exemption was thus limited, and in any revision of the Stamp Acts the point might well be considered.