§ MR. P. J. O'BRIEN (Tipperary, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Local Government Board have received from the Borrisokane Board of Guardians the Report of their engineer with reference to the proposed scheme for labourers' cottages in the Union, and giving details as to the condition of the houses in Borrisokane and Cloughjordan, which the Local Government Board fnspector mentioned in his Report as capable of being repaired, and on which ground he rejected most of the cottages proposed to be built for the labourers; whether in the majority of cases the Guardians' engineer reports the houses as " unfit to be repaired," and in the case of five houses which could be repaired, according to his estimate the avurage cost would be £54 per house; whether the Report entirely contradicts the statement of Inspector Burke as regards the want of water for some of the sites fixed on for the Cloughjordan cottages, the engineer guaranteeing a sufficient supply —namely, within a distance of 50 yards from one house and 100 yards from another, where the Inspector reported no water convenient; and whether now, with the knowledge of these facts, the Local Government Board will reconsider the matter, and sanction the Guardians in carrying out their original scheme, adopted on the Report of their sanitary officers and supported by their evidence at the inquiry, or whether they will at least consider this Report from an independent engineer as sufficient ground for granting the further inquiry which the Guardians have already asked for?
§ MR. BRYCE (for Mr. J. MORLEY)The Local Government Board have not yet received the Report referred to in the question; on its receipt they will give the matter their careful consideration.