HC Deb 04 August 1881 vol 264 cc826-7
COLONEL COLTHURST

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If he will cause an inquiry to be made into the exclusion of certain non-able-bodied classes from outdoor relief in Ireland, the same classes being entitled to it in England?

MR. W. E. FORSTER, in reply, said, that he would certainly ascertain the precise position of this matter; but he was not quite sure that his hon. and gallant Friend was not under some misapprehension. The Boards of Guardians had considerable power in this case. Section 1 of the Poor Law (Ireland) Act provided— That Guardians of the poor of every union in Ireland shall make provision for the due relief of all such destitute poor persons as are found to be disabled from labour by reason of old age, infirmity, or bodily or mental defect, and of such destitute poor persons as may be disabled from labour by reason of severe sickness or serious accident, and who are thereby deprived of the power of earning a subsistence for themselves and their families, and of poor widows having two or more legitimate children dependent upon them; and it shall be lawful to the Guardians to relieve such poor persons in or out of the workhouse as to them may seem fitting. If his hon. and gallant Friend found that that section did not cover all cases, he should be very glad to receive private information of cases that it did not cover.