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.

The duty of the Board will be to determine certain questions of fact
arising from time to time under the financial provisions of the Bill.

The figures given in this Paper are estimates only, and do not purport
to be final. The Bill, therefore, does not rest upon these figures, but
enables fuller returns to be obtained after the passing of the Act, and
it provides that the amounts of Irish Revenue and Expenditure for the
purposes of the Act shall be, not the figures given in this Paper, but
such sums as may be determined after the passing of the Act, upon the
basis of these fuller returns and of the more accurate figures of
Revenue and Expenditure which will then be available, by the Joint
Exchequer Board.

_Revenue and Expenditure Accounts._

If, however, the estimates given above are assumed, for purposes of
illustration, to be the figures finally determined, the Irish
Government's Budget in the first year would balance as follows:--

------------------------------+------------------------------
_Revenue._ | _Expenditure._
L | L
Transferred Sum 6,127,000 | All purposes not
Post Office 1,354,000 | separately
| specified -