To be purchased directly from H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses : Adastral House, Kingsway, London, W.C.,2; 28, Abingdon Street, London, S. W.1; York Street, Manchester; 1, St. Andrews' Crescent, Cardiff;

NORTHERN IRELAND LAND: MEMORANDUM

EXPLAINING FINANCIAL RESOLUTION

The Financial Resolution in connection with the Bill deals with two points.

(1) The creation and issue of guaranteed four and a half per cent. bonds for raising any money required for the Irish Land Purchase Fund (including the Land Purchase Aid Fund).

(2) The sums to be paid by the Land Purchase Commission (Northern Ireland) out of voted moneys if and so far as the receipts of the Commission are insufficient for the payments they are required to make.

The resolution does not involve any final charge on the Imperial Exchequer, as under the provisions of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, any expenditure incurred will be recovered from the Government of Northern Ireland by deduction from the Northern Ireland residuary share of reserved taxes. As, however, the general subject matter of the Acts relating to Land Purchase in Northern, Ireland is reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, legislation to amend those Acts must be passed by it and any expenditure involved thereby falls to be provided in the first instance by the Imperial Exchequer.

The purpose of the Bill is to provide for the completion of Land Purchase in Northern Ireland on the lines recommended by a SubCommittee of the Irish Convention in 1918 (Cd. 9019 of 1918), subject to certain adaptations to meet existing monetary conditions recommended by a Committee appointed under the Chairmanship of Lord Eustace Percy, M.P., in 1923 to consider what should be the terms of future land purchase in Northern Ireland (Cmd. 1967 of 1923).

The main principle of the Convention scheme was that Land Purchase should be automatically completed on the basis of the transactions already effected by agreement under the Irish Land Act, 1903. The only substantial alteration of the scheme recommended by Lord Eustace Percy's Committee was that in accordance with present monetary conditions the denomination of the stock or bonds required for the purpose should be 41% instead of 5%. The amount of bonus payable in cash to the landlords remains as provided for in the Convention Scheme. It is proposed in Part I of the Bill to apply the new denomination of bonds and scale of bonus to any future voluntary sales as well as to the automatic transfer of tenanted land to be effected under Part II of the Bill.

Paragraph (a) of the Resolution accordingly authorises the creation of guaranteed 44% bonds for issue in payment of purchase money or for providing the cash bonus payable from the Land Purchase Aid Fund. The total amount of bonds required for the former purpose is estimated not to exceed £8,000,000, and the total amount of the bonus at £900,000.

The interest and sinking fund relating to the bonds required for issue, at face value, to vendors of estates in payment of the purchase money proper (i.e., apart from the bonus) will be covered by the

annuities payable by the tenant purchasers, which are estimated to amount in all to £380,000 a year. Under section 26 of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, such annuities will be collected by the Government of Northern Ireland and paid into their Exchequer. A sum equivalent to the amount of the annuities is to be paid out of moneys provided by the Imperial Parliament into the Land Purchase Fund, but, as such payments will represent new purchase annuities within the meaning of that section, they will be recovered by deduction under section 24 of the Act from the Northern Ireland residuary share of reserved taxation.

Similarly the residue of payments for which the Land Purchase Commission (Northern Ireland) will be liable, including interest and sinking fund on stock or bonds issued to provide for the cash bonus, fall to be met in the first instance out of moneys provided by Parliament, but will be recovered from Northern Ireland in the same Paragraph (b) of the Resolution is therefore required to authorise the payment of these amounts out of moneys provided by Parliament, but as explained the ultimate liability will be borne by the Northern Ireland Exchequer.

As in the case of the securities issued under former Irish Land Acts, it is proposed to charge the interest on the bonds upon the Consolidated Fund in the event of the income of the Land Purchase Fund being insufficient to meet it. In view of the provisions for payments into the Land Purchase Fund already described, it is not anticipated that any charge will in fact fall upon the Consolidated Fund under this guarantee, but, if it should arise, the expenditure would equally be recoverable from the Northern Ireland residuary share of reserved taxation.

(4204) Wt.

Printed under the authority of His Majesty's Stationery Office,
By the South Essex Recorders, Ltd., High Road, Ilford.

1M 12/24 S.E.R., Ltd. Gp. 56.

PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.

To be purchased directly from H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses: Adastral House, Kingsway, London, W.C. 2; 28, Abingdon Street, London, S.W. 1; York Street, Manchester; 1, St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff;

or 120, George Street, Edinburgh;

or through any Bookseller.

1925.

Price 2d. Net.

Cmd. 2532.