§ MR. JOHN REDMOND (Waterford)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he will consent to a Return being furnished by the collectors of the poor rate in Ireland 501 setting forth, according to constituency or Parliamentary division, the number of persons struck off the voters' lists at the revisions of 1905 and 1906 by reason of the non-payment, within the statutable time, of the poor rate payable out of their qualifying premises; and also the number of such persons who in both years subsequently paid to the collectors the full amount of the rates due.
§ (Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Local Government Board have made inquiries as to the possibility of obtaining this Return, and they have come to the conclusion that it would be impossible to procure it with anything like accuracy, for in many cases poor rate collectors' districts extend into more than one Parliamentary division. Moreover, the collectors have not been required to keep records of the persons objected to, and the labour involved in making the necessary searches through the rate books, both as regards objections and subsequent payments, would be so great that it might seriously interfere with the collection of the current rate. The Government will, however, consider whether it may be possible to arrange that rate collectors should keep records of the number of persons struck off the voters' lists at this year's revision by reason of non-payment of poor rate.