§ 31. Mr. JOYCEasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been called to the position that has arisen under the Small Dwellings Acquisition 870 Act, 1899, in which it is stated that loans may be advanced under the Act, and that such loans must be repaid within a period of thirty years or any lesser period subject to Treasury regulations; whether loans under the Act for £200 and over have been granted to the county borough council of Limerick for periods varying from thirty to twenty-five years; whether a loan of £176 is now being sought for, and the Board of Works (Ireland) have written, under date 25th June, 1913, stating that, in accordance with Treasury regulations, a period of ten years only could be allowed for repayment of a loan of less than £200; if this is so, will the thrifty working man be prevented from purchasing his dwelling-house; and whether, under those circumstances, the Treasury regulations dealing with the ten years' period will be annulled and the payments to be made on the thirty or twenty-five years' period, and thus carry out the spirit and intention of the Act, so that the humbler classes of the community may be enabled to take advantage of the Act under reasonable conditions?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe ten years' limit is not insisted upon in the case of loans for the purposes of the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act if the Local Government Board, having regard to the character of the particular building to be acquired recommend a longer period not exceeding thirty years. I understand that further inquiry is being made by the Local Government Board as to the appropriate period in the case to which the hon. Member refers.