§ Mr. JESSE COLLINGSasked the Vice-President of the Board of Agriculture (Ireland), if he can state approximately the value of the horses, cattle, sheep, poultry, implements, and other farming necessaries sold by the Congested Districts Board to their tenants and other cultivators during the past five years; and if he will state the terms of such sales and the methods of repayment?
§ Mr. BIRRELLDuring the five years ended 31st March, 1912, the Congested Districts Board made loans to tenants on their estates who had been placed in possession of new or enlarged holdings for the purchase of cattle, sheep, and horses amounting in all to £10,397. The major portion of this sum was advanced for the purchase of cattle. The loans are repayable in three or five years by half-yearly instalments including interest at 3½ per cent. The Board do not make loans for the purchase of poultry or farming implements.