§ MR. M'CARTANI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to a letter from the Secretary to the Local Government Board to the Larne (County Antrim) Board of Guar- 780 dians, subsequently published in The Irish News of the 3rd instant, in which it is stated that there are, in the infirmary of the workhouse, 62 patients, of whom 27 are lunatics in charge of one nurse who is unable to go about the wards without the aid of a stick; whether he is aware the letter alleges that this infirm nurse is assisted by three female inmates of an inferior class, two of whom are of immoral character; that on the male side three old and infirm men are the only assistants; and that the Inspector found in a ward with five female imbeciles an infant, one and a-half years old, in charge of a pauper attendant who belongs to the same class she is supposed to mind; and whether immediate steps will be taken to make such nursing and other arrangements as the necessity of the case demands?
MR. J. MORLEYThe facts are as stated. The Local Government Board in the letter referred to requested the Guardians to summon a special meeting to consider the question of improving the present nursing arrangements in the workhouse, and this meeting will be held on the 16th instant. The Board will await the result of the Guardians' deliberations before taking further action.