I beg to move the following resolution:—
That for carrying out the provisions of any Act of the present Session to amend the law relating to the occupation and ownership of land, it is expedient that the authority mentioned in the resolution on this subject adopted by the Committee on Finance on the 3rd inst., be extended so as to cover
(a) the payment out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas of a sum sufficient to pay to the Land Bond Fund in respect of Sinking Fund 5s. per cent. per annum on the nominal amount of all bonds issued for contribution to price and for the Costs Fund;
(b) the temporary advance out of the Central Fund of any sum that may be required for making good any deficiency in the Purchase Annuities Fund for payment from time to time of an amount equivalent to the purchase annuities accruing due in respect of advances made or to be made in pursuance of purchase agreements under the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act. 1891, or any later Land Purchase Act other than the said Act of the present Session.
A further Money Resolution has become necessary in connection with Amendments Nos. 5 and 8, which appear on the printed list which has been circulated. Paragraph (a) covers the charge on Public Funds that would be involved by the adoption of Amendment No. 5. The Bill, as originally drawn, omitted to enact precisely how the money would be provided which was necessary for the Sinking Fund on bonds issued for contribution to the price and for the Costs Fund.
Paragraph (b) in the Resolution has to be read in connection with Amendment No. 8. Since the Bill was drafted, further consideration has been given to the procedure which ought to be followed in dealing with purchase annuities arising from the Land Acts. The responsibility for the collection of these rests with the Government, but the amount of the annuities, whether collected or not, requires to be paid over to the British Government for the purpose of meeting the interest and the Sinking Fund on the various Land Stocks. On further consideration, we came to the conclusion that the provisions of the Bill did not provide an adequate working machinery for the purpose and the suggested amendment will meet that. We provide for it by this Resolution.
