ALTERATION OF MODE OF CALCULATING PURCHASE ANNUITY.

HL Deb 07 August 1896 vol 44 cc47-51

(1.) In the case of every advance under the Land Purchase Acts made after the commencement of this Act the purchase annuity shall he calculated and payable—

1. (a) during the first decade of the annuity, upon the total advance; and
2. (b) during the second and third decades, upon the portion of the advance which is ascertained, as provided by this section, to be unpaid at the end of the previous decade; and
3. (c) after the end of the third decade, upon the portion of the advance which is ascertained, as provided by this section, to be then unpaid,

and shall continue to be paid until the whole advance is ascertained as provided by this section to have been repaid. (2.) The Land Commission shall, in accordance with such rules as the Treasury may make—

1. (a) at the end of each of the said decades ascertain how much of the advance has been repaid by means of the accumulation during the decade of that portion of the purchase annuity which represents 48 repayment of capital, and the residue of the advance shall be the unpaid amount upon which the subsequent annuity is to be calculated and paid; and
2. (b) ascertain when the whole advance has been repaid by means of the accumulation of that portion of the purchase annuity which represents repayment of capital.

(3.) If the proprietor of a holding charged with an annuity applies to the Land Commission within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner, prior to the end of each of the said decades, that the annuity during the next decade shall not he reduced under this section, no alteration of the annuity shall then be made. (4.) The amount of the annuity, when recalculated as provided by this section, shall be certified by the Land Commission, and that certificate shall be conclusive for all purposes, and shall be sent by them for registration to the registration authority under the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891. (5.) The foregoing provisions of this section shall apply in the case of an annuity for any advance made under the Land Purchase Acts before the commencement of this Act, subject as follows:—

1. (a) where more than ton years have elapsed since an annuity for the repayment of of the advance began, the amount of the advance remaining unpaid shall be ascertained as at the end of the last completed decade since that beginning, and the reduction of the annuity in the current decade shall date from the gale day next after the commencement of this Act;
2. (b) In a case where purchaser's insurance money has been paid, the amount so paid, and not set off against arrears, shall be taken into account at the end of the first decade, as if it were a portion of the purchase annuity which represents repayment of capital; and the provisions with respect to setting off against arrears purchaser's insurance money so paid shall not apply after the end of such decade.

*THE EARL OF BELMORE

moved, after Clause 24, to insert the following clause:— Where any tithe-rent charge vested in the Irish Land Commission by the Irish Church Act, 1869, has been or may hereafter be sold under the provisions of Section 32 of the said Act, and the purchase money is made repayable by a terminable annuity as in said section provided, the following provisions shall have effect:—

1. (a) If the sale was made before the commencement of this Act, the annuity may be reduced on the application of the purchaser in the manner provided 49 with respect to existing purchase annuities by Sub-section five of Section 24 of this Act;
2. (b) In the case of sales made after the commencement of this Act, the annuity may on the application of the purchaser be periodically reduced in the manner provided by Section 24 of this Act respecting purchase annuities created after the commencement of this Act;

Provided, however, that in all such cases the annuity on the original or (as the case may be) the unpaid amount of the purchase money shall be four pounds nine shillings instead of four pounds per centum, and the interest involved in such annuity shall be three per centum. He hoped this was a clause which the Government would be able to accept. It was, in a certain sense, a matter connected with the Treasury, but only in a certain sense, because it did not deal with public money in the ordinary sense of the word. It dealt really with certain repayments to the Irish Church Fund over which the Treasury, no doubt, had some control. A short time ago he brought a Bill into the House for which the Government gave a Second Reading on condition that it did not go any further this Session. That Bill dealt with two things. It dealt first of all with a matter which was to a certain extent dealt with in Clause 36 of the Bill with regard to the tithe-rent charge annuities. With regard to that matter the Government allowed him to have a Second Reading as a recognition of the principle of 45 years instead of 52 years being the basis of calculation for repayment, but he was not allowed to extend the matter any further than it was done in Clause 36. As far as that agreement went, he was bound by it, and he did not propose any amendment to that part of the clause which regarded repayment. But there was another matter, possibly a smaller matter, dealt with in the second section of the clause as to which he was not bound, nor were the Government bound by having assented to the principle in having given him a Second Reading. When a person had purchased his tithe-rent charge and converted it into a sinking fund annuity, he would have to pay for a lengthened period of years a certain annual sum part of which represented capital, and part of which represented interest on the sinking fund principal, and what he wanted the Government to do was to place those persons upon the same footing as that in which they had just placed the tenant purchasers of farms by Clause 24 of this Bill. He asked that they should recalculate the annuities every ten years, and that consequently the persons who were repaying their tithe-rent charge should, if they so liked, pay a smaller annual sum at each recurring decade, and of course the period of repayment would extend over a longer period. This was a matter to which a great deal of importance was attached, and if the Government could accept it it would give a very sensible relief to many persons who were very much in need of relief just now.

*THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE

said this Amendment was only placed on the Paper that day, and he had not had time to examine it very thoroughly. But the matter with which it dealt was one which had been more than once discussed in that House, and the proposals of the noble Lord as to the commutation of tithe - rent charge were certainly not all received by the Government. They had, in the Bill, admitted the principle for which the noble Lord had so often contended, in regard to cases where there was a sale of an estate to tenants. But the noble Earl, in this Amendment, asked them to go considerably further and to deal with the commutation of rent charge generally.

*THE EARL OF BELMORE

said he did not touch the case of immediate redemption, which was dealt with in a later clause of the Bill, but he dealt with the case of those persons who did not want to redeem the charge at once or upon sale, but intended going on until the end of the term. What he asked was that the length of the period should be extended, and that in the same way as they were giving reductions to tenant purchasers, from ton years to ten years, the amount of the annuity should be recalculated, and that the persons should pay a smaller sum over that lengthened period.

*THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE

said he was afraid he had somewhat misapprehended the proposal, but it was quite clear that it was a financial proposal of some magnitude, and he could not undertake to add it to the Bill.

LORD CASTLETOWN

hoped the noble Earl would bring it up on Report. It was evident he had had some arrangement with the Government which had broken down.

*THE EARL OF BELMORE

said the Government could not admitthe principle, but he would bring it up on Report if it was any use.

*THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE

said the clause was out of order.

*THE EARL OF BELMORE

said that as it seemed to be the wish of some of his noble Friends, he would take the opinion of their Lordships on the matter.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND

asked his noble Friend if he was quite clear that it was in order. Surely it was a financial proposal of high magnitude, and, therefore, was it not a privilege Amendment?

*THE EARL OF BELMORE

said he did not think it was.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND

It is obviously a financial operation of considerable magnitude that must affect the Treasury. That must be dealt with by the financial authorities of the country. It is a very serious thing to move that without full consideration, and without being thoroughly advised as to its legal status.

LORD CASTLETOWN

hoped the noble and learned Lord would not ride off on privilege. Some arrangement was entered into.

*THE EARL OF BELMORE

No, that was with regard to the matter dealt with in Clause 36. I withdraw.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn; clause ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 25,—