§ MR. MANDEVILLE (Tipperary, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland why has there been on the part of both the Local Government Board and the Tipperary Board of Guardians such a very great delay in having the arbitrator sent down to Tipperary to arrange all matters relating to giving the labourers of Emly cottages and plots of land under the Irish Labourers' Cottage Acts; and will he see that an arbitrator is sent by the Local Government Board to Tipperary Poor Law Union immediately, and that the necessary legal steps are taken to enable the labourers of Emly to get their cottages, &c, so that they can fence in their plots of land for cultivation before early Spring?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE DUCHY OF LANCASTER (Mr. BRYCE, Aberdeen, S.)My right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary has asked me to reply to the questions addressed to him. It is presumed that by "arbitrator "the hon. Member means "Inspector." I am informed by the Local Government Board that the Board of Guardians of Tipperary Union, on the 15th August last, made a scheme for 196 houses, including 13 in the Emly Electoral Division of the Union, but that the Guardians have not yet submitted the scheme to the Local Government Board for approval, and until they do this the Board cannot direct an Inspector to hold an inquiry into the matter. It is to be observed, however, that a considerable time has necessarily to elapse between the making of a scheme by the Guardians and its being submitted to the 464 Local Government Board. The Acts require the scheme to be published for three consecutive weeks in one month. During the following month notices have to be served on the owners and occupiers of land proposed to be taken, and a month must elapse from the service of the last of these notices for any objections to be lodged.