asked the Secretary to the Treasury what amount of money was actually paid by the Road Board in the years 1911 and 1912, respectively, for road improvement in Ireland; how much in each of those years was by way of Grant and how much by way of loan; what is the estimated amount to be paid in 1913 by way of loan and by way of Grant; docs the Board grant usually 75 per cent. of the cost of works of road improvement in England and only 50 per cent. in Ireland; and will the Board consider the desirability of making more liberal Grants in the case of poor counties, such as Mayo, Sligo, Galway, and Leitrim, where in many cases the local councils have already exceeded their limits of expenditure and yet are unable to bring their roads up to modern requirements?

The Road Board have indicated to individual highway authorities in Ireland Grants aggregating £144,236 and loans aggregating £25,030. The Grants and loans made in the years ending 31st March, 1911 and 1912, with the approval of the Treasury, totalled as under:—

1911—Grants	…	£51,968	Loans	…	Nil.
1912—Grants	…	£32,006	Loans	…	£9,376

The sums paid in these years under Grants and loans amounted to:—

1911–Grants	…	£18,848	Loans	…	Nil.
1912–Grants	…	£24,265	Loans	…	£3,721

The Board are considering the allocation of a further £100,000 for road improvements in Ireland, but before making further Grants the Board desire to have certain technical advice as to the roads on which moneys can most advantageously be spent, and in order to obtain such advice they have appointed an advisory committee of Irish road engineers, who are carrying out an inspection of a considerable mileage of Irish roads. Within the limits of the funds available, the Board generally make a Grant of 75 per cent. of the ascertained net improvement cost of an approved work, or, in the case of Ireland, 50 per cent. of the total cost. Highway authorities in Ireland generally prefer to take 50 per cent. of the total cost, as this, in most cases, results in a larger Grant. As regards the counties referred to in the question: In the case of Mayo, the Board sent an engineering inspector to assist the county council in formulating a scheme and in preparing estimates, specifications, and plans for the improvement of the Ballina-Belmullet road, and they intimated to the county council that they were prepared to make a Grant of 90 per cent. of the total cost of the necessary works upon the section between Ballina and Crossmolina. The Board are waiting to hear from the county council with regard to the arrangements for carrying out the work, and they understand that the work on the section above referred to will be commenced shortly. In the case of Sligo, the Board have made Grants aggregating £3,020 and loans aggregating £5,610, and have indicated further Grants of £3,925 and loans of £6,215. In the case of Galway, the Board have made a Grant of £4,700. The question of further Grants is waiting the result of a report on an inspection of certain roads. In the case of Leitrim, the Board have made a Grant of £1,700, and have indicated a further Grant of £1,000.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will state the various Government securities in which deposits in the Irish Post Office and deposits in the fund for the bank for savings and the amounts, respectively, from each Department in each security are invested; the rate of interest per cent. which the Government pay the depositors; the amount per cent. which the investments produce, and the total annual excess of the produce over the amount of interest paid; and to what purpose is the profit applied?

As stated in reply to the hon. Member's question of 22nd April, the investments of the Savings Banks funds in Ireland are not separated from the investments of the rest of the United Kingdom. Statements of the nature and amount of securities held for the whole of the respective funds are given in Parliamentary Papers 191 and 535 of last Session. The rate of interest paid by the Government to depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank is 2½ per cent., and to the Trustees of Savings Banks 2¾ per cent., the latter rate having to provide for interest to depositors and management expenses of the Trustees. The rates of interest paid by the Trustees to depositors in Irish Trustee Savings Banks in the year ended 20th November, 1911, and the expenses of management are given in Parliamentary Paper 316 of last Session. Accounts of the interest earned on the respective funds for the years ending in 1911, and the disposal thereof, are given in Parliamentary Paper 270 of last Session. Reckoned on the mean amount due to depositors in the case of the Post Office and on the mean amount due to Trustees in the case of the Savings Banks, the rate earned is approximately £2 15s. 6d. per cent. in each case, which rate has to provide both for interest to depositors and management expenses. Under Sections 14 and 15 of 40 Vict., cap. 13, a surplus of interest earned in the year is paid to the Exchequer after reserving a part of same to provide against depreciation in the securities, and a deficiency of interest is made good by a Vote of Parliament.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the dissatisfaction existing amongst officers of Customs and Excise, formerly Customs port clerks, is due not merely to the manner in which the substitution of a fixed annual overtime allowance of £3 in lieu of actual payment on a daily basis afflicts many of them individually, but also to the fact that, concurrently with this offer of £3 per annum, their liability of attendance has been increased from seven hours per day to forty-eight hours per week, without any compensation whatever; whether he is aware that in many ports where collectors' offices have for years past been staffed on this basis the exigencies of the Customs service have habitually required that Customs port clerks shall give, at certain periods of the year, an amount of extra attendance for which the £3 offered to them is a most inadequate payment; whether he is aware that Customs port clerks will now be liable to be employed in the Customs and Excise service outside collectors' offices, where his promise that such offices shall continue to be staffed on the basis of a normal seven-hour day will presumably not operate; and, if so, whether, in view of the fact that no question of economy is involved, he will consider the desirability of a reconsideration of the position of Customs port clerks so far as their hours and conditions of overtime are concerned?

I have nothing to add to my answer to the hon. Member's question of the 1st instant on this subject.

asked the total amount of dividends and interest on public stocks accrued on and since the 6th April instant, from which the Bank of England have deducted and retained Income Tax; the amount of the Income Tax so retained; and the amount of poundage at 3d. or 4d. in the £ allowed or allowable thereon to the Bank by the Treasury?

The total amount of interest from which Income Tax has been deducted by the Bank of England since the 6th April instant is £153,690 2s.; the amount of Income Tax deducted and retained is £8,962 12s. 11d.; and the poundage thereon payable to the Bank is £99 19s.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland what steps are being taken to have the Hickson estate, Teer, Brandon, county Kerry, taken over by the Congested Districts Board; and whether this is a very poor highly-rented estate with holdings and houses badly in need of improvement?

The Congested Districts Board have purchased the estate of Mr. G. A. E. Hickson in the townlands of Garrywilliam and Fahamore, in the vicinity of Brandon, county Kerry, but the estate does not include the townland of Teer mentioned in the question. The Board have no information regarding that townland.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the non-residential grazing farm held by the late E. A. Duke, Esquire, J.P., of Ballymote, and situate in Killaraght, Boyle Union, county Sligo, has yet been sold to the Congested Districts Board; if not, can he state the cause of the delay; and if he can say whether, in the event of the sale, the herd, Hever, who is the son of an evicted tenant, will get a holding on the estate?

The Congested Districts Board have made an offer for the purchase of the lands referred to which has not been accepted. The Board cannot say what action they would take with regard to the herd in the event of their purchasing this property.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he can state the cause of the delay in completing the purchase of the Kerveguen estate, Virginia Road, county Meath; and whether the transaction is a request case, which usually involves little delay?

The formal proposal of the Estates Commissioners to purchase this estate has been settled, and will, it is expected, issue this week to the owners for acceptance. Sales to the Commissioners are dealt with in their order of priority in accordance with the Regulations made under Section 23 (8) of the Irish Land Act, 1903, and Section 4 of the Irish Land Act, 1909.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the O'Flaherty estate, in Ballyconneely, near Clifden, and at Ardnasella, near Oughterard, are yet purchased by the Congested Districts Board; if not, will he say whether an offer of purchase has been made; and, if not, will he state the cause of the delay in the purchase of these properties?

The Congested Districts Board have made an offer for the purchase of this estate, which has not yet been accepted.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he can state the present condition of negotiations in regard to the estate of William Henry M'Grath, Birch-field, near Lahinch, West Clare; and whether, in view of the general desire to come to terms, this matter may be expedited?

The Congested Districts Board have made an offer to purchase this property, which has not been accepted, and negotiations for purchase are not at present proceeding.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the landlord and tenants of the Vaughan-Brooke estate, county Donegal, entered into agreements early in 1912 for the sale of the landlord's interests at 6s. in the £ reduction, and that the Congested Districts Board subsequently refused to allow a direct sale owing to portion of the estate being held in rundale; and will he represent to the Congested Districts Board the propriety of allowing the sale to proceed without the rundale portion being included or, in the alternative, will the Congested Districts Board retain the rundale portion in their own hands, as the landlord cannot ascertain the rights of the tenants to this portion of the estate and is willing to leave the matter to the Congested Districts Board?

The estate referred to would appear to be the Lady Stewart Bam estate, for which agreements for direct sale were entered into between the landlord and tenants. The statements in the latter part of the question are not quite correct, but as the case now stands the Congested Districts Board have expressed their willingness that the owner might sell the holdings by direct sale through the Estates Commissioners, provided that turbary be supplied for each holding on satisfactory terms.

asked whether the Congested Districts Board have taken any steps to purchase the waste lands on the A. G. R. Johnston estate, Kinlough, county Leitrim, known as the Mount Prospect grazing ranch, for the relief of congestion in that district, as there are many uneconomic holdings much in need of relief?

The estate referred to has been offered for sale to the Congested Districts Board, and a decision will be arrived at regarding purchase as soon as practicable.

asked the Chief Secretary whether, in regard to the estate of Captain J. C. R. Scott, in the townland of Doonmore, West Clare, purchase agreements are lodged with the Estates Commissioners; whether, in view of the fact that, when in 1907 nine new holdings were created in respect to the reserve bog, the residential tenants were paying for turf on the reserve in question, they therefore had reason to expect that the bog would be included within the terms of their purchase; whether he can publish the report of Mr. J. J. Howard, the inspector, on this subject; and whether, when the matter is finally dealt with, the Estates Commissioners will see that full justice is done to the residential tenants in regard to turbary rights?

Purchase agreements have been lodged with the Estates Commissioners under the Land Purchase Acts in respect of certain holdings on this estate, but no agreements have been lodged in respect of the nine holdings created in 1907. The owner has by deed conveyed to trustees for the benefit of the residential tenants the bog in his own possession, together with the rights of cutting turf over the holdings in question. Having created tenancies in the said nine holdings, the owner had no power to include in the bog conveyed to the trustees the bog on such holdings, but only the right to cut turf thereon, which right he had reserved to himself when the tenancies were created. It would be contrary to the established practice of the Commissioners to publish reports of their inspectors, which are confidential documents.

asked whether the Congested Districts Board, having refused to provide Michael Flynn with a farm on the Aughacashel farm, Kiltubrid, county Leitrim, from which he was evicted, will provide him with a suitable farm elsewhere, having regard to the fact that he is the only evicted tenant in the parish, and that he was given to understand that he would be reinstated when the estate was purchased?

The Congested Districts Board have not purchased the farm from which Michael Flynn was evicted, and the matter of providing him with a holding is not therefore one for the Board.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the family of Thomas Hever, deceased, who was evicted from his farm on the Vesey Stoney estate, situate in the parish of Boyle, county Roscommon, are now acting as herds on the R. A. Duke estate, situate at Ross, Killaraght, county Sligo, near Boyle; whether the Vesey Stoney estate has lately been purchased by the Congested Districts Board; and, if so, whether this evicted family will be reinstated in their old holding, which was retained by the landlord up to the time of the sale, or else be provided with another farm elsewhere?

The Congested Districts Board understand that the late Thomas Hever was evicted from his holding on the Vesey Stoney estate, but they have no information as to whether his family are acting as herds on the Duke estate. The Vesey Stoney estate has recently been purchased by the Board and they will communicate with the Estates Commissioners regarding the claim of the representatives of Thomas Hever for reinstatement.

asked the Chief Secretary if his attention has been called to the sworn statement made on 16th July, 1909, at the Castleisland Petty Sessions by Mr. Woods, district inspector of police, then stationed in Castleisland; whether he has any official information showing that Mr. Richard Walsh, evicted from the Gun Mahony estate, was a sober, industrious, respectable young man; whether this character is given to him by Mr. MacDonough, who succeeded Mr. Woods in the Castleisland district; and if Mr. MacDonald, district inspector at present in charge of the said district, is also of the same opinion as regards the character of Walsh?

District Inspector Wood, on cross-examination in a case heard at Castleisland Petty Sessions on the 16th July, 1909, stated that Mr. Richard J. Walsh was a sober, respectable, industrious man. That was the character he bore in 1909. As regards the remainder of the question, it would be contrary to practice to publish the personal opinions of police officers regarding a man's character.

asked whether the case of Kate Shea, Sheheree, evicted tenant on the Kenmare estate, Killarney, has been inquired into; and what steps do they propose to take in the matter.

The Estates Commissioners are unable to trace the receipt of any application as an evicted tenant for reinstatement from the person referred to in the question.

asked the Chief Secretary the total amounts expended by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland during the years 1911–12 and 1912–13, respectively; and whether any portions of such amounts were received from the Development Commissioners; and, if so, how much?

The amounts expended by the Department during the years 1911–12 and 1912–13 were £482,073 and £551,225, respectively. Included in these amounts were £17,118 and £23,467 net received from Development Commissioners in the respective years.

asked the Chief Secretary whether any and, if so, how many public bodies in Ireland have borrowed money in the open market, and to what extent, for the purpose of building labourers' or artisans' dwellings; whether he will state the terms in each case, giving the interest, date repayable, and the provision, if any, for sinking fund; and whether he will state the extra cost on the local rates per cottage over and above the amount chargeable when cottages were built out of moneys advanced through the Estates Commissioners, assuming the weekly rent chargeable to the occupier to be the same in both cases?

Sixty-two rural district councils have obtained loans in the open market, the total amount so borrowed being £111,139 5s. With few exceptions these loans have been obtained at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum for periods ranging from one to thirty years, repayable by equal instalments of principal with interest on the balance outstanding. Generally speaking, these loans were either supplemental loans for completing schemes or for the purchase of additional allotments. It would be impossible to state definitely the extra cost on the rates per cottage, but it may be taken that the extra charge would be represented by the difference in the rate of interest charged by the Land Commission, 2¾ per cent., and the rate, 4 per cent., usually charged by other lenders, plus the Government Grant-in-Aid of 36 per cent. of the loan. In the case of the provision of artisans' dwellings by municipal authorities under the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, the Local Government Board have no precise information as to the extent of borrowing in the open market, and the figures could only be obtained, if at all, by circularising the local authorities in question. No loans have been advanced by the Estates Commissioners for the erection of houses in urban areas under the Housing of the Working Classes Acts.

asked the Chief Secretary upon whose instructions the movements of certain Nationalists are watched by plain-clothes policemen, and more particularly by detectives at railway stations; whether these detectives have any right to demand from Irish railway servants the destination of these Irishmen; upon what grounds, political or otherwise, are these men kept under strict surveillance, and is any attempt made to interfere with their correspondence in the post offices; and whether the fact that they are officers or members of a friendly organisation which is viewed with special disfavour by the Board of Erin, Ancient Order of Hibernians, has had anything to do with the system of espionage to which they have been subjected?

The Inspector-General informs me that no persons are watched by the police because they are Nationalists or members of a friendly society. The police only watch those whom they suspect to be engaged in enterprises of an unlawful character. There is no foundation for the suggestion contained in the last paragraph of the question.

asked whether officers of the Royal Irish Constabulary appointed as resident magistrates continue to subscribe to the Constabulary Force Fund as such; and, if so, at what age are they retired on pension?

When a constabulary officer, who is a subscriber to the Constabulary Force Fund Benefit Branch, is appointed a resident magistrate, his contributions to the fund cease and all claims in respect of past subscriptions lapse.

asked what was the amount of gratuity paid from the Irish Constabulary Force Fund, on their retirement on pension, to Inspector-General Wood in 1876 and to Inspector-General Hillier in 1882; and what was the scale of grants to cover expenses of retirement in those respective years, on first-class favourable records, to county inspectors, sub-inspectors, head constables, acting constables, and sub-constables?

The gratuities paid, in accordance with the then existing rules of the Constabulary Force Fund, to Inspectors-General Wood and Hillier on their retirement, from the service were in each case £279. Under these rules all ranks of the Force, from the Inspector-General down, received, in the year 1876, grants on retirement of 6 per cent. of their pay. This grant was afterwards increased, and in 1882 was 8 per cent. in the case of head and other constables. In addition to this grant, sums varying from £18, in the case of a county inspector, to £2 10s. in the case of a constable were awarded for each favourable record held by the member of the service at the date of retirement, if he had served for thirty years. A somewhat smaller grant was paid to officers and men of shorter service. A further reward of £20 was paid to a county inspector, £14 to a district inspector, £5 to a head constable, and £4 to a sergeant, acting-sergeant, or constable, if he had served the last thirty years of his service without an unfavourable record. As no payment for records was made to the superior officers of the force, they received on retirement, in addition to the 6 per cent. above referred to, a further payment of 9½ per cent. of their pay. No such payments are now made to superior officers, the rules having been revised in 1891.

asked what amount was transferred from the Irish Constabulary Force Fund when it was divided into two branches to form the nucleus of the new reward branch; what capital then remained to the credit of the benefit branch; for what purpose and for whose benefit Consols, the property of the subscribers, were recently sold at a loss of £4,913; whether, since the subscribers have no control, the Government will make good that and similar avoidable losses; and, if no statement of accounts of the benefit, branch has ever been issued to subscribers, will he say under what Section of the Acts governing the fund the accounts are so withheld?

When the Constabulary Force Fund was divided into two separate branches in 1891, all the then existing capital was retained in the benefit branch, the reward branch being started without any capital. The capital of the benefit branch was then £304,000, including £150,000 granted by Parliament to ensure the solvency of the fund. As the receipts from deductions from pay and pensions and interest on capital are no longer sufficient to pay current claims, a portion of the capital has to be realised each year to help meet these demands, and any loss incurred in these circumstances through the depreciation of securities is unavoidable. There is no statutory provision requiring the publication of the accounts of the fund, and it is not correct to say that they are being withheld.

asked who is responsible for the daily sweeping and dusting of Irish national schools; and whether in an Irish national school attended only by boys, the schoolmaster is supposed to make the boys sweep the school and to superintend them doing it, or else sweep it himself or pay someone to do it?

The Commissioners of National Education inform me that the duty of seeing that the school rooms are properly cleaned and dusted every day devolves upon the teacher, but the necessary expenses (if any) for this service should be borne by the manager. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative.