asked the Minister for Justice if he will state why the surplus accruing from the Dog Tax which the Pembroke Urban District Council has been receiving for a number of years has not been paid since March, 1924, and if he is aware that the payment in that year amounted to £173 4s. 9d.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - PEMBROKE COUNCIL AND DOG TAX.
The facts are as stated. Orders have been made under the Petty Sessions Clerks (Ireland) Act, 1881, diverting into the District Court Clerks Fund all the proceeds of sale of dog licences up to the end of 1924, save such amounts as have already been distributed to local authorities; the 1925 collection—the final collection under the old law—will be similarly diverted. The Acts under which the dog duty was formerly collected and distributed were repealed by the Finance Act, 1925—the repeal to date from 1st January, 1926. The dog duty is now an Excise Duty, payable into the Exchequer; no part of it can be paid to any local authority.