§ 79. Mr. HORE-BELISHAasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he was consulted before the publication of the recent notice circulated in the Irish Free State demanding that the vouchers of Royal Irish Constabulary pensioners should now bear a 2d. stamp; and whether, seeing that under the 2291 Finance Act all such pensions are free of stamp duty and that Royal Irish Constabulary pensioners in Great Britain and Northern Ireland are exempt, he can confer with the Irish Free State Government with a view to a remittance of this duty, which will mean an impost of 2s. a year on Royal Irish Constabulary pensioners in the Irish Free State?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the TREASURY (Mr. Pethick-Lawrence)I have no information regarding the notice referred to. Questions relating to stamp duty on payments made in the Irish Free State are within the domestic Jurisdiction of His Majesty's Government in that area, and I cannot intervene.
§ Mr. HORE-BELISHAWill the hon. Gentleman not protect the members of the Royal Irish Constabulary in respect of their contractual rights? Can he not make representations without intervening?