§ Mr. LUNDONasked the Chief Secretary whether, up to the 1st of July, 1908, only £59 odd was due from defaulters under the Land Purchase Acts in county Limerick; whether £800 odd was deducted from the grants to the Limerick County Council under the same heading; and, if so, will he say how this is accounted for?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe sum of £59 mentioned in the question appears to be taken from the appendix to the last Annual Report of the Land Commission giving particulars of every case in the county of Limerick in which land purchase annuities were one year and upwards in arrear on 1st July, 1908. The deductions in respect of land purchase liability from grants paid in county Limerick in 1908 amounted to £405 19s. 3d. There is no analogy between these figures. As regards the general question of deductions in respect of arrears of annuities, I would refer the hon. Member to the explanation which I gave in Debate on 24th June last.