§ Mr. DIXONasked the Home Secretary if he is aware that in the allocation of houses for ex-service men under the Irish Land (Provision for Sailors and Soldiers) Act, 1919, the Treasury allotted, on a population basis, only 1,046 to Northern Ireland as against 2,626 cottages to Southern Ireland; that the ratio of the number of men who enlisted from Northern Ireland as compared with those who enlisted from Southern Ireland is 48 to 52; that the Government of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland ex-service men's organisation have made repeated representations to the Imperial Government regarding the injustice of allotting only 28 per cent. of cottages to Northern Ireland, having regard to the number of ex-service men, and that it has been urged on the Imperial Government to allot at least 1,400 cottages to Northern Ireland; and if, seeing that under the recent regulations made by the Treasury regarding the establishment of the Land Trust the above allotment has been stereotyped, he will now give instructions that the number of cottages to be allotted to Northern Ireland will be increased to 1,400?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANThe reply to the first and third parts of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part, I cannot agree that the ratio of the enlistments recorded in the two areas is the primary consideration in the allocation of the number of houses between those areas. As regards the fourth part of the question, it would not be possible to increase the number of houses allotted to Northern Ireland without either decreasing the number allotted to the Irish Free State, or increasing the expenditure552W to be incurred; and, as at present advised, His Majesty's Government is not prepared to adopt either of these alternatives.