§ LORD G. BENTINCKhoped the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary for Ireland would be able to give a satisfactory answer to a question which he had put the day before yesterday, as to the rations given on the public works in Ireland.
§ MR. LABOUCHEREsaid, that the noble Lord had on Tuesday night read to the House a list of rations which the noble Lord understood had been determined upon by the Central Relief Committee, as the scale on which relief was to be afforded to the destitute poor in Ireland. The noble Lord, he believed, derived his information from a publication in a daily newspaper; 414 and he believed that the noble Lord read the list correctly as it appeared in that newspaper. There was, however, a very material error in that list. He had since received the official statement of the rations, and he thought the House would admit that they were sufficient. A ration was to consist either of 1½ lb. of bread (the newspapers stated it at ½ lb. so that there was a material difference), or 1 lb. of biscuit, or 1 lb. of meal or flour, or any other grain, or one quart of soup thickened with a portion of meal, according to any known receipts, and one quarter ration of bread, or biscuit, or meal, in addition. He hoped the noble Lord would agree with him in thinking that this allowance of food was sufficient.
§ House adjourned at half-past Six o'clock.