§ MR. F. A. O'KEEFE (Limerick)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, (1) if his attention has been directed to the protests of the Corporation and Poor Law Guardians of Limerick against the arrival in the port of the city of Limerick of the steamer North Cambrian, a few weeks ago, infected with small pox; (2) whether, in future, such ships, if any, will be detained in quarantine; and, (3) if the Government will be prepared to join with the local authorities in a grant to erect an intercepting hospital on some island near the mouth of the Shannon?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURMy reply to the first paragraph is in the affirmative. The Local Government Board informed me that vessels can only be placed in quarantine in accordance with Privy Council Orders under the Quarantine Act to prevent the introduction of Plague or Yellow Fever, and cholera is similarly dealt with under orders issued in pursuance of the Public Health Act. It has not been deemed expedient to make regulations dealing with smallpox as a seaborne disease, 1241 inasmuch as that disease is liable to occur inland, and as a matter of fact, is seldom introduced by vessels coming from abroad. Under the existing law, a ship having on board cases of smallpox can be dealt with by the sanitary authority in whose district she is lying, as an infected house, her sick can be moved to hospital if not properly accommodated on board, and she can be disinfected in the same manner as other premises are disinfected. The final paragraph raises a general question upon which I am not prepared to express an opinion without consulting the authorities in England and Scotland.