§ MR. WILLIAM REDMOND (Clare, E.)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury if he will consider the advisability of sanctioning the loan asked for by the Ennis Urban Council for the purchase of the tolls and customs of the town of Ennis.
(Answered by Mr. Hobhouse.) I have examined with close attention the memorial transmitted to me by the hon. Member for Clare. As I have previously explained to the hon. Member, the Ennis Urban Council have been unpunctual in their repayments of loans, and, though they now declare their readiness to be punctual in the future, they have not resolved to remove the chief cause of their un-punctuality, the late date for striking a rate. I would, moreover, remind the hon. Member that the high rate prevailing in Ennis, amounting to 8s. 6d. in the £, is an almost insurmountable obstacle in the way of the loan from the Board of Works, but, if and when the preliminary step of an earlier date for striking the rate is 1695 taken, I shall be willing to further consider the application of the urban council for the loan of £2,500.