asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state the amount of money applied for and the amount advanced in each of the 10 last completed financial years for financing land purchase in Ireland to all the authorities administering the Land Purchase Act?

The amount of money applied for by the Land Commission for advances, and the advances made in money, under the Land Purchase Acts during each of the ten years referred to are as follows:—

Financial Year.				Amount.
				£
1905–6	…	…	…	5,516,580
1906–7	…	…	…	5,941,348
1907–8	…	…	…	5,166,904

Financial Year.				Amount.
				£
1908–9	…	…	…	6,562,551
1909–10	…	…	…	7,061,902
1910–11	…	…	…	4,630,208
1911–12	…	…	…	4,295,697
1912–13	…	…	…	4,216,628
1913–14	…	…	…	4,818,358
1914–15	…	…	…	3,603,193

These figures are exclusive of a sum of £7,031,005 paid in cash as bonus percentage to vendors of estates under the said Acts during the years in question, and of a sum of £4,411,108 advanced in cash under the Labourers Act, 1906, out of the Land Purchase Fund during the nine years ended the 31st ultimo. In addition, advances amounting to £13,536,232 were made in stock under the Land Purchase Acts during the five years ended the 31st ultimo.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state the total amount advanced for land purchase in Ireland under each of the enactments empowering such advance, with, in each case, the rate of interest, the amount of principal and of interest, respectively, repaid to 31st March, 1915, and the amount of principal outstanding at that date, showing the gross amount at each rate of interest where different rates are used under one enactment?

The amounts advanced for land purchases in Ireland under the several Land Purchase Acts to 31st March last are as follows:—

Acts of 1870	£518,933
Acts of 1881	240,801
Acts of 1885–8	9,992,536
Acts of 1891–6	13,146,892
Acts of 1903–9	70,449,472
Labourers (Ireland) Act, 1906	4,411,108
	£98,759,742

The particulars asked for in the concluding part of the question, in so far as they are available, are given in the published Annual Reports and Accounts of the Land and Estates Commissioners and the National Debt Commissioners, and cover the period up to the 31st March, 1911. The detailed particulars for the year ending 31st March last cannot yet be given.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will state the number of holdings purchased under the Land Purchase Acts vested in the purchasers, and the number of parcels of land vested, in each of the ten last completed financial years in each county and in the whole of Ireland by all the authorities administering the Land Purchase Acts?

The number of holdings and parcels of land vested in purchasing tenants tinder the Land Purchase Acts, including holdings vested on re-sale of estates purchased by the Estates Commissioners and Congested Districts Board, during the last ten financial years are the following:—

Year ended 31st March.					Number Vested.
1906	…	…	…	…	12,678
1907	…	…	…	…	13,355
1908	…	…	…	…	13,558
1909	…	…	…	…	16,811
1910	…	…	…	…	15,986
1911	…	…	…	…	22,905
1912	…	…	…	…	24,169
1913	…	…	…	…	23,975
1914	…	…	…	…	16,956
1915	…	…	…	…	10,948

The figures for each county are given in the Annual Reports of the Land and Estates Commissioners, but the detailed figures for each county for the financial year ended 31st ultimo have not yet been segregated.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will state the year in which the purchase agreements were signed in the case of the latest estate dealt with this year by advance of price and vesting of holdings in each of the three categories into which the Estates Commissioners have divided for purposes of priority estates before them for sale?

The years are 1907 in the case of estates on the Principal Register of Direct Sales (all cash), and 1908 in respect of cases on the Subsidiary Registers (part money, part stock) and (all stock).

asked the Chief Secretary if he will state the total amount of grass land now held and used by the Congested Districts Board, with the number of cattle and sheep fed upon it; when the Board began this kind of farming; whether they have withheld from the congested people during all that time land which Parliament created the Board to distribute; by what method the Board secure the public interest in the buying and selling of stock; and, seeing that relatives of certain members of the Board are engaged in this traffic and that there is no known purpose but their benefit for retaining the land for years, whether he will have the Board's accounts submitted to a competent and impartial committee of inquiry?

On the 1st November, 1914, the Congested Districts Board had on hand about 130,000 acres of untenanted grass lands, and during the year ended on that date the Board had grazing on those lands 26,099 cattle, 8,692 sheep, and 2,484 horses, which were nearly all owned by small landholders in their neighbourhood. The Board have been thus using untenanted lands from the date of their first purchases, finding this the most advantageous employment of these lands pending their distribution, which is arranged for as quickly as the Board's resources allow, but which can only be satisfactorily carried out when large areas are available to which tenants from congested districts can be gradually migrated. The Board's own stock (which in November last consisted of 379 cattle and 9,573 sheep) are bought and sold at public fairs. So far as the Board are aware, no relatives of any of their members are engaged in buying or selling their stock or in any way in connection with the rearrangement of the grass land in hand. Careful accounts are kept for all farms, and are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, in view of the inadequacy of the pay of prison warders in Ireland and the increase in the cost of living, if he is now in a position to indicate the scale of increase to be given them and when it will come into operation?

I regret I cannot, at the present time, add to my replies to previous similar questions.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will state the total amount of rates levied in 1914–15, and the total amount estimated for 1915–16, respectively, by each administrative body in Ireland empowered to levy rates, with the amount of increase or decrease in each case and for the whole of Ireland?

I find that the information asked for by the hon. Member could only be obtained by circularising the various local Rating Authorities and imposing on them and on the Local Government Board labour in the preparation and analysis of the figures, which would, in my opinion, be disproportionate to the value of the Return, especially as any deductions made from a comparison of actual expenditure in one year with estimated expenditure in the next would be necessarily misleading. In these circumstances I regret I am unable to give the information.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will state, in respect of each county, county borough, and other administrative body in Ireland from which deductions have been made from grants in aid of local rates owing to the insufficiency of the income of the Local Taxation (Ireland) Account, and owing to all the causes connected with land purchase for each of the five last completed financial years and for the whole period, with the total for all Ireland; and, if an inquiry is being held into the Local Taxation (Ireland) Account, will he say by whom, when set up, and when the report may be expected?

It is impossible to give the information asked for by the hon Member within the limits of a Parliamentary answer, but I hope to send him tables on the subject in the course of a few days. The total deductions made in respect of the liability in question for the five years amounted to £38,591 3s. A Departmental Committee was appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1911 to inquire into the changes that had taken place in the relations of Imperial and local taxation since the report of the Royal Commission in 1901, and to make recommendations with a view to legislation, but the Committee has not so far issued any report in regard to Ireland.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will state the total area of untenanted land now available to the Estates Commissioners for distribution, but still used by graziers at the request of the Commissioners, with the counties in which such land is situated; at what date the Commissioners began this method of withholding from landless and congested people land which Parliament determined should be distributed; whether some of the land has been so withheld all that time; what the explanation of the practice is; and whether he will have it discontinued and all untenanted land distributed as soon as available.

The following lands in the hands of the Estates Commissioners are temporarily let for grazing pending completion of schemes for their allotment, the erection of houses and the carrying out of other improvements:—

County.	Acres.	Present User.
Clare	55	Let to Urban District Council.
Galway	6,740	5,054 acres let to Committees representing occupiers of small holdings and residue let for grazing.
King's	514	Let to Committee representing occupiers of small holdings.
Longford	180	Let for grazing.
Meath	350	Ditto.
Roscommon	56	Let to Rural District Council.
Sligo	139	Let for grazing.

As a rule the Estates Commissioners prepare their schemes of allotment before taking over possession of untenanted land and place allottees in occupation immediately on taking over possession. In some cases, however, it is necessary to erect houses before placing the allottees into occupation, and in these the Commissioners take over possession of the land, making the best use of it until they are in a position to place the allottees in possession. The temporary lettings by the Commissioners in such cases rarely exceed twelve months, and I am satisfied that there is no avoidable delay on the part of the Commissioners in the distribution of such land.