§ MR. ERRINGTONasked the Secretary of State for War, Whether he will take advantage of this time of distress to undertake the long contemplated improvements in the barracks at Longford, and to increase, in accordance with his promise, last year, the number of troops quartered in that town?
§ COLONEL STANLEYSir, only a limited amount of the funds at our disposal can be devoted to new married 678 soldiers' quarters; and until those at Limerick are completed it is not probable that those at Longford can be undertaken. The claims of other Irish stations have also to be considered. With regard to the concluding portion of the hon. Member's Question, if he will refer to my answer to his Question on the subject, he will find that no promise was given of an increase to the number of troops quartered at Longford. What I then said was to the effect that when the promise was given, in 1878, that a detachment would be sent to occupy these barracks, it was given with the qualification "if possible;" that it was not then possible to do so, but that it would not be lost sight of. I can now only repeat the same answer. Owing to other requirements, there is at present no prospect of any immediate increase in the number of troops to be quartered at Longford.