§ MR. FIELDTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state what is the total amount of accumulated funds derived from quit rents in Ireland; how much was collected last year and how it has been expended; and whether the Government will consider the advisability of distributing this Irish money amongst the county councils of Ireland in aid of reafforestation according to the needs and capabilities of each county.
(Answered by Mr. Runciman.) It cannot be said that there are any accumulated funds derived from quit rents in Ireland. As the hon. Member has been informed on several occasions, the surplus annual income from that source is annually paid into the Exchequer, as provided by the Crown Lands Acts, and goes in relief of general taxation in the United Kingdom, and the proceeds of the sale of quit rents have, under the same Acts, become merged in the capital of the land revenues 936 of the Crown, which is invested in land in Great Britain and Ireland and in British and Irish stocks. The amount collected in 1906–7 was £31,251. This money is not by law available for the purposes mentioned in the Question.