§ Mr. FIELDasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he will consider the advisability of establishing an Irish branch of the Board of Trade; and whether he is aware that many commercial associations in Ireland favour its establishment?
§ Mr. BIRRELLWhile I am aware that the question of the establishment of an Irish branch of the Board of Trade was recently raised at a conference of manufacturers in Dublin, I do not consider that the time is opportune for the setting up of such a branch as is suggested.
§ Mr. FIELDasked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the Courts (Emergency Powers) Act, 1914, does not apply to town tenants in Ireland, although it applies in England, Scotland, and Wales; whether he is aware that evictions have taken place in Dublin which could not have occurred in England, Scotland, or Wales under the provisions of the aforesaid Act; and whether he will immediately introduce the necessary legislation to extend the protection of town tenants to Ireland?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Courts (Emergency Powers) Act, 1914, applies to town tenants 247W in Ireland in the same way as it applies to town tenants in Great Britain, except in the case of one class of proceedings, namely, statutory proceedings for the recovery of possession of small tenements. The Act extends expressly to proceedings of this nature under the English Statute but contains no reference to the corresponding Irish Statute. This omission is due to the very special circumstances in which the Act passed through both Houses, and I shall endeavour to remedy it at the earliest opportunity. My attention has been drawn to reports of two evictions in Dublin, but I have no means of saying whether evictions would not have occurred in Great Britain in similar circumstances notwithstanding the Act.