§ MR. MACARTNEY (Antrim, S.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, What is the procedure of the Local Government Board, in reference to representations, under the Labourers Acts (Ireland), which are not adopted by the Board of Guardians to which they are made, in order to satisfy itself as to the accuracy, or otherwise, of the allegations made in such representations; and, whether, in the event of such representations not being adopted by the Board of Guardians, any independent inquiry is made, upon appeal to it, by the said Board; and, if not, why not?
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN) (Kent, Isle of Thanet)(who replied) said: The procedure in cases such as those referred to in the Question is governed by Section 10 of the Labourers' Act, 1883 (46 & 47 Vict. c. 60), which provides that, in the event of a Sanitary Authority not acting upon a representation made to them, the Local Government Board may, "if they think it necessary," direct a local inquiry to be held and a Report to be made to them as to the correctness of such representation. The Local Government Board, upon receipt of a complaint that a representation has not been acted upon by a Sanitary Authority, usually bring the matter again under the notice of the Sanitary Authority; but, up to the present, the Board have not found it necessary in any case to direct an inquiry to be held.