asked the Minister for Health if he will state the amount paid during 1951 in each rate-aided hospital by farmers with less than £50 valuation.

The information requested by the Deputy is not available. In order to ascertain it each local authority which maintains a hospital would be obliged to abstract from the valuation lists the valuations of all farmers who paid in whole or in part for their maintenance or for the maintenance of their dependants in the hospital during 1951. This would involve a great deal of work and I am not satisfied that I would be justified in requesting local authorities to undertake it.

Does the Minister really think that it would involve a big lot of work?

I think it would.

I do not agree.

The Deputy realises that they will have to go through the whole list for the year and then consult the valuation lists.

The Deputy is aware that the occupation, etc. of every patient going into a county hospital is written down in A and D.

That is true.

A small fraction of these perhaps will be farmers. It would be only a case of looking up these in the valuation lists. It could be done in two hours in any county.