asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health whether he is yet in a position to state the result of the further inquiries he promised to make in connection with the financial position of the Limerick County Council; and if he will state what is the total amount of Agricultural Grant withheld from the County Council owing to defaulting annuitants up to February 16th, 1926.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - LIMERICK AGRICULTURAL GRANT.
I am in correspondence with the Chairman of the County Council as to the delay in completing the abstracts of accounts, and I will inform the Deputy of the position when a reply has been received.
As regards the second part of the question, the amount withdrawn from the Guarantee Fund in respect of land purchase arrears in the county up to February, 1925, which was not met by the county share of the Estate Duty Grant was £13,134. This amount is charged against the county share of the Agricultural Grant. During the year ended 16th February, 1926, the draws from the Guarantee Fund in respect of land purchase arrears in 1925, including arrears, etc., under the Land Act, 1925, exceeded the repayments by a sum of £2,693 18s. 6d. This amount is recoverable from the proportion of the share of the county in the Estate Duty Grant for the current year. There will be no deduction in the present year from the Agricultural Grant.