§ 63. Colonel NEWMANasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can give an estimate of the amount of money 243 to be found this year by the British taxpayer to meet the interest on the various classes of Irish land stock which was formerly met by the annuities paid by those who had purchased their farms under various Land Acts, but which annuities, under the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, were handed over as a free gift to the Governments of Northern and Southern Ireland; and does this estimate include the interest on the moneys advanced to Irish local authorities for the erection of labourers' cottages?
§ Mr. BALDWINUnder Section 26 of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, an amount estimated at £658,000 in 1923–24 is payable from the British Exchequer to the Irish Land Purchase Fund in respect of the land purchase annuities payable in respect of land situate in Northern Ireland which are now retained by the Government of Northern Ireland under that section. This amount includes the amount of the annuities pay-al- le under the Labourers Act. As regards the Free State, these arrangements were repealed by Section 1 of the Irish Free State (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1922, and the amount of the annuities payable in respect of land situate in the Free State will still be applicable to meet the interest charges on Irish Land Stock.