§ MR. J. FINUCANE (Limerick, E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether the Kilmallock Board of Guardians, County Limerick, has written to the Local Government Board suggesting that the present system of arbitration in the cases of lauds required under the Labourers' Acts leads to unnecessary expense, delay, and inconvenience; and requesting that the Board of Works should employ more than one arbitrator, as experience has shown that the work of arbitration cannot be carried out by one arbitrator with the expedition necessary to insure the successful working of the Acts; and will the Board be requested to accede to the request of the Guardians; and (2) what is the explanation of the delay which has taken place in bringing the arbitration in the Kilmallock Union to completion?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe answer to the first paragraph is in the affirmative. The Labourers' Bill now before Parliament will enable the delay complained of to be avoided in all future cases. The delay referred to in the Kilmallock case arose through some misunderstanding between the Guardians' Solicitor and the Arbitrator, but the matter is now practically settled.