§ MR. MOONEY (Newry)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can state on what basis are pension officers in Ireland to calculate the income of a small farm; whether by the rent paid, or if he can state what is to be the procedure in such cases.
1207 (Answered by Mr. Lloyd-George.) As I informed the hon. Member for East Tyrone on the 10th inst., pension officers have to exercise their discretion in dealing with this class of case. The assessment of the advantage derived from the occupation of a holding is a matter of considerable difficulty, and, while the amount of the rent in many cases provides a useful working measure of such advantage, it has not been possible to lay down an invariable rule on that basis. Each case has to be considered upon its merits with reference to the amount of rent paid and to other considerations affecting the value of the holding to the occupier as a source of income and means of subsistence.