asked the Minister for Finance whether, in relation to the annual payments to Great Britain in respect of land purchase annuities, R.I.C. pensions, etc., he has considered the greatly increased burden on the people caused by a substantial fall in prices, compared with 1925, of nearly all goods exported from the Free State; whether he will state the percentage increase in the total amount of the annual payments represented by that fall in prices, and whether he has made, or intends to make, any representation on these lines to the British Government with a view to an amelioration of the hardship caused by these annual payments.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Payments to Great Britain.
Tomás O Maoláin
I am aware that in recent years there has been a substantial fall in prices. In so far as the price-level was a factor in fixing land purchase annuities, it must be remembered that the annuities referred to in the Deputy's question were fixed when the price-level was lower than it is now. It must also be borne in mind that there are important off-setting factors, such as the consequential increase in the purchasing power of the income derived by the Saorstát from investments abroad, and the comparable fall in the price of imports. The reply to the last part of the Deputy's question is in the negative.