§ MR. BOLAND (Kerry, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to the statement in the latest Consular Report from Rotterdam and Flushing that the new steamer added to the Holland-America line was built at Belfast and launched on 3rd March; whether in the list of imports into Holland for the present year, this vessel will be credited to Ireland, in view of the fact that in the current Report no record is made of new vessels being purchased from Great Britain or Ireland; and whether, in view of the importance of the shipbuilding industry to Ireland, care will be taken that in recording the statistics of Irish imports into those countries which have agreed to keep separate records of Irish trade the number and value of Irish-built vessels shall be specified in the Consular Reports.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir EDWARD GREY,) Northumberland, BerwickI learn on inquiry from His Majesty's Consul at Rotterdam that the item "ships" is not especially mentioned in the monthly official statistics which are alone available when the Consul sends in his Report, but only in the official statistics for the whole year. In these circumstances, the Consul could not do more than state that the vessel was built in Ireland. The vessel will no doubt appear as desired in the official statistics for the year.