asked the Minister for Local Government the number of farms in County Cavan with the following valuations and their rate relief under the recent Budget: under £2, under £4, under £7, under £10, under £15, under £20, under £30, under £50, under £100 and under £200.

As the reply is partly in the form of tabular statements, I propose with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to circulate it with the Official Report.

Following is the information:—

NUMBER of holdings in County Cavan as at June, 1960, classified according to valuation.

The classification of holdings by valuation, as per above table, is based on the total rateable valuation of holdings, including land, farm buildings and farm dwellings. There are no statistics available as to the break-up of these valuations as between land and buildings. Since rate relief is given only in respect of the agricultural land portion of a holding it is not possible to state the amount of relief in the case of any particular holding, the total valuation only of which is known.

Rate relief on holdings consisting of agricultural land only in Cavan County Health District in the current year on the basis of the proposals in the Budget would be as follows:

In the case of holdings exceeding £20 valuation an Employment Allowance of £17 is also given in respect of each qualified workman, subject to the limitation that the total Employment Allowance does not exceed the amount of the rates payable on the valuation over £20.