§ Mr. CLANCYasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the whole of the Exchequer contribution provided by The Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891, after making the deductions therefrom specified in The Labourers (Ireland) Act, 1906, has been put to the credit of the proper local authorities in the two financial years 1907–8, and 1908–9; if so, does the fact appear in the Local Taxation (Ireland) Accounts for those years; and, if not, why was the fund not fully distributed, and what has become of the portion of the fund not distributed?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe whole of the Exchequer contribution of £40,000, provided annually under the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891, has in respect of each of the two years 1907–8 and 1908–9 been allocated as follows: £6,000 to the labourers' cottages fund; £3,188 8s. 11d. to county borough councils; £30,811 11s. 1d. to the Commissioners of Public Works in discharge of loans for Labourers Act purposes. The payments to the labourers' cottages fund and the county borough councils appear in the Local Taxation Accounts for 1907–8. The payment to the Board of Works in respect of that year does not appear in that Account, as payment was not made until April, 1908. It will appear in the Account for 1908–9, which has not yet been presented.