asked the President if he has seen the statement made recently by the Chancellor of the British Exchequer to the effect that up to the time of the introduction of the British Budget the British Treasury had recovered in penal tariffs from the Irish Free State £700,000 over and above the actual amount of the moneys withheld by the Irish Free State; if this sum has been so collected; and, if so, if he will cease to pursue the policy of collecting further sums in the form of annuities, levies and seizures from farmers.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - British Penal Tariffs.
I presume that the statement which the Deputy has in mind is that made by the British Chancellor of the Exchequer on the 15th April, namely, that he had received "a surplus of nearly £700,000 from the duties on articles coming from the Irish Free State." If so, the Deputy has misunderstood the statement. Read in its context, it clearly refers to a surplus, not over the sums claimed by the British Government under the secret agreements and withheld by the Saorstát, but over the estimate of the yield of the duties which Mr. Chamberlain had made at the beginning of the financial year.
I may add for the Deputy's information that the sums withheld amounted in 1934-35 to approximately £4,900,000. The yield of the British duties on Saorstát goods, as stated in a British Treasury return, was £4,692,000.
Arising out of the President's reply, would he say how much of that sum of £4,900,000 was withheld in respect of land annuities?
I am afraid that the Deputy would have to ask me that question separately.
Arising out of the President's reply, I take it that he will be able to inform the House that by no means all of that sum represents land annuities?
No—£2,960,000.
That represents the total sum withheld in respect of annuities?
Yes.
Arising out of the President's reply, is he in a position to say how much of that sum of £4,900,000 is made up of Sinking Fund?
That is a separate question.
Arising out of the President's reply, is he in a position to say whether or not the British have collected any money in tariffs for Sinking Fund?
I am afraid that I shall have to get separate notice of these questions.