§ MR. J. DEVLIN (Belfast, W.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the Poor Law valuation on 1065 the Island of Rathlin is in many cases more than double the old rent, and more than treble the judicial rent of the holdings; whether he can state if, in fixing the valuation, any account was taken of the, hardships under which the islanders exist, or of the loss and danger to which the crops and live stock are exposed from wind and tide; and whether he will make inquiries with a view to a revision of the present valuation.
(Answered by Mr. Hobhouse.) The Commissioner of Valuation informs me that he has no information as regards the statement in the first part of the Question, but that the total Poor Law valuation of the land in Rathlin Island is £791, which is equivalent to an average of 4s. 5d. per acre. The Answer to the second part of the Question is in the affirmative. There is no power, I understand, under the existing law to make a revaluation; but the fact that the valuations are above or below the rent does not affect the amount of local taxation paid by the individual taxpayer so long as all the valuations in the rating area are determined upon a uniform and proportionate basis.