§ MR. JAMES O'CONNOR (Wicklow, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether he is aware that the Guardians of the Rathdown Union have for a couple of years in hand the sum of £500, given to them for the express purpose of building labourers' cottages, and that the Medical Officer of the Union has reported that several cottages were required; and whether, seeing that the Local Government Board nearly a year ago wrote to the Guardians warning them that if the cottages were not built they would be obliged to exercise their rights under the Labourers' Acts and order them to be built, he will state whether any cottages have yet been built; and, if not, what action have the Local Government Board taken in pursuance of their expressed determination to have cottages built in this Union.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURA sum of £537, representing the share of this Union in the Labourers' Cottages Grant of 1890, is available for the erection of cottages in the Union. The Guardians in November last made a scheme for the erection of cottages, but as the publication of the necessary notices, etc., under the Labourers Acts occupies some considerable time, the Local Government Board have not yet received the application for a Provisional Order confirming the scheme.
§ MR. JAMES O'CONNORasked whether it was not the fact that the Local Government Board wrote to these Guardians threatening to build the cottages themselves.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURIt is perfectly true that they wrote to the Guardians.