§ MR. HOWORTH (Salford, S.)I beg to ask the Attorney General for Ireland whether he can furnish a Return of the number of Boards of Guardians in Ireland which have been suspended, and of those which have been warned, during the last 10 years, and which shall also state whether the Boards so dealt with are situated in the poorer and more congested, or in the more prosperous, districts of Ireland?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. MADDEN,) University of DublinThere have been 13 cases in which Boards of Guardians in Ireland have been dissolved within the last 10 years. The Local Government Board could not, without considerable trouble, state the Boards of Guardians which have been warned or cautioned during that time. The Local Government Board can specify the 13 cases in which the Boards have been dissolved, indicating also whether they are situated in the poorer or more prosperous districts of Ireland. If such information would be sufficient for the purpose of my hon. Friend I would suggest for his consideration the advisability of his applying for that information in the form of a question, so as to obviate the inconvenience of multiplying Parliamentary Returns.
§ MR. J. O'CONNOR (Tipperary, S.)Can the right hon. and learned Gentleman say whether these Boards of Guardians have been dissolved on account of political reasons, or because of their inability to discharge the duties entrusted to them?
§ MR. MADDENI am quite certain that they have not been suspended from any political motives.