§ MR. R. POWERasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If it is a fact that the Local Government Board in Ireland charge £5 7s. 2d. interest on every £100 borrowed for the erection of labourers' dwellings; is it the case that the Labourers Act has been very little availed of, as the ratepayers object to pay so high a rate of interest; and, if he will consider the advisability of granting loans to sanitary authorities in Ireland upon the same terms as those set forth in "The Relief of Distress (Ireland) Act, 1880?"
§ MR. TREVELYAN, in reply, said, that the terms for the loans were fixed by the Treasury, and not by the Local Government Board. It could not be said that "The Labourers' Act has been very little availed of." The sanitary authorities of 60 Unions had presented petitions praying for orders confirming about 570 schemes, which, if passed, would involve loans to the amount of £400,000 or £500,000. There did not appear to be any reasonable grounds for seeking to obtain these loans on the same terms as those on which loans were granted under the Relief of Distress Act, 1880, in the very exceptional circumstances then existing.