§ MR. GIBNEY (Meath, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that John Mahoney, of Kilmainham, Kells, County Meath, forwarded a requisition under the Labourers (Ireland) Acts to the Guardians of the Kells Union, asking that a labourer's cottage should be built on a site adjacent to one occupied by him, and which was condemned by the Sanitary Authority; that a Local Government Hoard Inspector, after a full inquiry into the facts, sanctioned the erection of the said cottage; I hat, at the same inquiry, a requisition by a man named Smith for the erection of another cottage in the same Union was rejected by the Local Government Hoard Inspector; and that Smith was put into possession of the plot of land and house passed on the requisition of John Mahoney; whether he is also aware that Smith is not an agricultural labourer, but a bread van driver in the employment of a man named Hopkins, who is the Guardian of the division in which this cottage is situate; whether, under the provisions of the Labourers (Ireland) Acts, Smith is entitled to possession of a labourer's cottage; and whether the Local Government Board will take any action lo compel the Kells Board of Guardians to take up possession of this cottage and 1271 plot of land, and give it to a bonâ fide labourer?
§ MR. ASQUITHMy right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary has asked me to answer this question. The statements in the question appear to be correct. The letting to Smith was not in accordance with the provisions of the Labourers' Act, and the Local Government Board are in communication with the Guardians with a view to the provisions of the Act being complied with.