§ MR. LONSDALE (Armagh, Mid.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he will state the total amount of the advances applied for under the Purchase Act of 1903 to the end of January and the total amount of the advances which have been sanctioned; and whether, in view of the loss which is being occasioned to buyers and sellers through the congestion of business in the Land Commission, he will state what arrangements, financial and otherwise, have been made for expediting the working of the Act.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe total amount of the advances applied for, including purchases by the Estates Commissioners and the Congested Districts Board, is £45,499,862; and the total amount sanctioned, £16,088,919. The question of increasing the Estates Commissioners' staff, with the object of expediting the operation of the Act, is now under consideration.
§ In answer to a further Question,
§ MR. BIRRELL said he would take every step he possibly could to facilitate the working of the Act.