Revenue of the Irish Exchequer.
The Bill provides, in the first instance, for the period during which the yield of Irish taxes is less than the cost of Irish administration, and contemplates certain modifications after a financial equilibrium has been attained.
During that period the revenue of the Irish Exchequer will consist of a sum transferred annually from the Imperial Exchequer, and termed in the Bill the Transferred Sum, together with the receipts of the Irish Post Office.
The Transferred Sum will be fixed at the outset at such amount as will cover, with the addition of the Post Office revenue, the present expenditure on Irish Government, with the exception of the cost of the Reserved Services. Included in the Transferred Sum will also be a specified sum as surplus. The amount of this surplus will be £500,000 annually for a period of three years, then diminishing by £50,000 a year for six years till it reaches £200,000, at which sum it will remain.
Subject to this variation in the amount of the surplus and to certain minor variations specified in the Bill, and subject also to any changes consequent upon the exercise by the Irish Parliament of the powers of increasing or reducing taxation which are defined below, the amount of the Transferred Sum, fixed in the first year after the passing of the Act, will remain the same until an equilibrium is reached between the total revenue derived from Ireland and the total expenditure on Irish purposes.
Revenue of the Imperial Exchequer from Ireland.
The Bill provides that until such equilibrium is established the whole of the proceeds of all Irish taxes shall be collected by the Treasury of the United Kingdom, and be paid into the Imperial Exchequer. (This provision does not apply to Post Office revenue.)
The revenue so collected should be sufficient to cover the Transferred Sum and to provide a balance sufficient to defray a part of the cost of the Reserved Services. As the revenue from Ireland increases in the future, the receipts of the Imperial Exchequer will increase proportionately, and the yearly deficit which will fall at the outset upon the Imperial Exchequer will gradually be lessened and ultimately disappear.
Joint Exchequer Board.
The Bill establishes a Joint Exchequer Board of Great Britain and Ireland, consisting of two members appointed by the Imperial Treasury and two by the Irish Treasury, with a Chairman appointed by His Majesty the King.