§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will state the estimated population of Ireland and the estimated area of land tilled therein seventy years ago and now, respectively; the amount, so far as ascertainable, of public money spent, and the number of soldiers and police employed, carrying out evictions in Ireland; and the total amount of public money spent in promoting emigration from Ireland, and the total number of persons imprisoned in connection with agrarian matters in Ireland during those seventy years?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe population of Ireland estimated to the middle of 1845 was 8,295,061, and to the middle of the present year 4,381,398. The area of land tilled in the country is estimated at 4,099,629 acres in 1847, the earliest year for which figures are available, and at 2,311,662 acres in 1914. The information asked for in the third, fourth, and last parts of the question is not available.
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§ Mr. GINNELLalso asked the Chief Secretary to state the area of arable land in Ireland, the area of it in tillage, and the number of people there engaged in agriculture at the latest date for which these figures are available?
§ Mr. BIRRELLIn 1914 the area of land in Ireland capable of being tilled is estimated to have been 14,742,766 acres—the area tilled under the system of rotation 5,027,082 acres, and the area actually tilled in the year 2,311,622 acres. The latest estimate of persons actually engaged in agriculture is for the year 1912 and amounts to 1,073,238.