§ MR. LONSDALE (Armagh, Mid.)I beg to ask the Prime Minister whether he is aware that upwards of 100,000 Irish tenant-farmers, who have voluntarily agreed with their landlords for the purchase of their holdings under the Irish Land Act, 1903, are being subjected to loss by reason of the delay in advancing the amount, estimated at between £40,000,000 and £50,000,000 sterling, necessary to enable purchase arrangements to be completed; and whether, having regard to the fact that all parties are agreed as to the urgent need of solving the financial difficulty, while the question of the relief of congestion is highly controversial, he will submit the proposals of the Government in reference to these matters in the form of two separate Bills, in order that the land-purchase difficulty may be surmounted as speedily as possible.
§ MR. ASQUITHAs I have already announced, the proposals of the Government for dealing with Irish Land Purchase Finance and the relief of congestion will 1721 be embodied in one comprehensive measure. I regret that it would not be possible to discuss, within the limits of an oral answer, the reasons which render that course necessary and desirable. I must ask the hon. Member to await the statement which my right hon. friend will make when introducing the Bill.