§ Sir JOHN LONSDALEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his attention has been called to the fact that of the 4,539 persons described as officials assessed to Income Tax in Ireland 2,190 are not Government employés or paid out of moneys voted by Parliament, 1,622 being clergy- 426 men of the Church of Ireland, 341 Bank of Ireland officers, 49 Lights Board and Port and Dock Board employés, and 173 petty sessions clerks; and if he will give directions to the Commissioners of Income Tax to correct the Returns under Schedule E in future so as to exclude from the title Government officials any such persons as are not in Government employment in Ireland?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEIn Table 151 of the fifty-third Report of the Commissioners, of Inland Revenue, to which the hon. Member would appear to refer, the number of assessments under Schedule E of the Income Tax on "Government Officials" in Ireland for the year 1908–9 was stated to be 4,397, and on 8th of February, 1911, my right hon Friend the then Financial Secretary to the Treasury explained that the statistical heading "Government Officials" included in this case the several classes of persons detailed in the present question. If the hon. Member, however, will refer to the corresponding Table in the subsequent Report, he will see that an explanatory note has been added to the heading "Government Officials," indicating that the figures include assessments which are not strictly upon Government officials. In future Reports the Commissioners will give sufficient particulars under this heading to remove any possibility of misapprehension.
§ Sir J. LONSDALEIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs has recently referred to these 4,539 persons as Government officials, and will he draw the attention of the hon. Gentleman to this incorrect statement and to the real state of affairs?