§ MR. H. PLUNKETT (Dublin Co., S.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that the unsanitary condition of the house in Dublin, acquired in 1891 for the Congested Districts Board by the Irish Board of Works, without the application of the usual tests to the drains, has resulted in the serious illness of several members of the Congested Districts Board's staff; whether the Board of Works is responsible for the sanitary condition of Government Offices in Dublin; whether the Congested Districts Board, having considered it necessary to employ an independent sanitary engineer, and he having reported on 8th August, 1893, the condition of the drainage to be open to serious objection, the Board of Works, after considerable delay, practically adopted the recommendations of the Congested Districts Board's engineer; and whether, in view of all the circumstances of the case, the Board of Works will refund to the Congested Districts Board the fees paid to the sanitary engineer?
§ * SIR J. T. HIBBERTI am sure my hon. Friend would be the last person to desire that the Board of which he is a member should disregard the forms which are usual in the relations between Government Departments, but I am bound to say that it would have been more seemly that any complaint against the Board of Works should be made through the regular medium of official correspondence. I find no evidence for the correctness of the allegation in the first para- 1907 graph; but the information before mo shows that the facts are as follows:— The entire sanitary arrangements of the house in question were reconstructed in 1889, under the direct supervision of the sanitary engineers of the Dublin Corporation. For this reason no special tests were applied to the drains by the Board of Works in 1891, but the usual survey, as in all such cases, was made by their technical officers, who reported that the sanitary arrangements were of modern construction, and that no outlay would be necessary in connection with them. No complaints reached the Board of Works as to any defects or the illness of any of the staff till the 7th of August last, when it was stated that three officials were suffering from inflammatory diseases, and suggested that the sanitary condition of the house should be examined, more particularly as bad smells had been noticed. The necessary examination was immediately made, when the drains and everything in connection therewith were found to be in good order. The attention of the Congested Districts Board was, however, directed to certain improvements which should be effected sis regards the cleanliness of the building; one of these consisted in the removal of a number of poultry, one of which was found dead and in a decomposed condition, causing disgusting smells. It was also pointed out that the intercepting trap on the main sewer had been tampered with. On September 11 the Board of Works were informed by one of their officers that the Congested Districts Board, with a want of courtesy happily rare in the relations between Government Departments, were calling in an independent sanitary engineer, without giving any intimation to the responsible Department, the Board of Works, and that though the two Boards were at the time in seemingly friendly communication. That Engineer's Report is dated September 18, not August 8, and was forwarded on September 22. Several errors on material matters found therein wore pointed out by the Board of Works, with the result that the engineer referred to made a further Report, in which he admitted that the main drain, condemned in his previous Report, was "reasonably well laid and jointed." The Report received the fullest consideration from the Board of Works, and, although they were satisfied that no 1908 serious defect existed, they ordered on October 12 the execution of certain works, not because they considered them necessary, but in order to allay any possible fear on the part of the Congested Districts Board, In the execution of these works the subsoil on which the main Sewer rested was found to be free from contamination of any kind, thus confirming the contention of the Board of Works that the drain was properly laid and in good working order. The Board of Works have no knowledge of, and can undertake no responsibility for, foes paid to the sanitary engineer.