MR. PATRICK O'BRIENI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that there is great need for labourers' cottages in the village and townland of Kilmanagh, in the Callan Union, and that the applications of two labourers in Kilmanagh named Walsh and Fitzgerald were refused by the Local Government Board inspector first on the grounds that two other cottages built by the union were not occupied for some time after the erection, and secondly that Walsh and Fitzgerald were unmarried; whether these are valid reasons for refusing to erect cottages where they are wanted; whether he is aware that in other parts of the Callan Union cottages have been erected for unmarried labourers, and that cottages are often left unoccupied for a considerable time after erection, especially in winter, to allow them to dry before being tenanted; and whether he will see that 918 Walsh and Fitzgerald are provided with cottages?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOUROn the 29th March last I replied to a somewhat similar question addressed to me by the hon. Member, and to that reply I have nothing to add, except that it is not intended to alter the decision already arrived at by the Local Government Board after careful local inquiry by their inspectors.
MR. PATRICK O'BRIENI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that there is great need for labourers' cottages in the Draperstown and Baneran divisions of the Magherafelt Union; whether an inquiry was held by the Local Government Board, and a scheme for the erection of a number of cottages in these divisions sanctioned; and whether he will explain the delay in having them erected, or say when the work of building will commence, and how many houses it is intended to erect?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURA Provisional Order was issued by the Local Government Board, after due local inquiry, authorising the erection of three cottages in the Baneran electoral division and two cottages in the Drapers-town division. The solicitor acting for the Board of Guardians explains that the delay in erecting the cottages has been caused by the difficulty experienced in procuring titles to the lands to be acquired and also in arranging with the Land Commission, who have charge of the lands, as to the payment of the purchase money. The matter appears, however, to be now approaching completion and further delay is not anticipated.
§ MR. DILLONI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1) whether he is aware that an application for a cottage under the Labourers' Act in the electoral division of Feddyglass, in the Union of Strabane, was lodged three years ago by Samuel Brown, and that the cottage in which Brown lives has been condemned by the inspector of the Local Government Board; and (2) will he explain why his application for a cottage has been refused?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe answer to the first paragraph is in the affirmative. The reason why this man Brown's application has been refused is that he is a road contractor, and as such does not come within the provisions of the Labourers' Acts.
§ MR. JAMES DALY (Monaghan, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland will he state how much remains unused at the Treasury of the sum that should have been devoted for the purpose of erecting labourers' cottages in Ireland. Will he explain why fewer labourers' cottages have been built in Ulster than in any other part of Ireland; and what course he intends to take with regard to Boards of Guardians in Ulster who have not yet erected labourers' cottages?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe amount unexpended on account of labourers' cottages in Ireland is £11,963. The reasons why the Labourers' Acts have not been utilised in Ulster to the same extent as in other parts of Ireland are that fewer applications for labourers cottages have been made by labourers in the province, and that the boards of guardians there are more unwilling to admit the necessity for providing cottages under the Acts. If any cases of default on the part of a board of guardians in Ulster to put the Labourers Acts into operation are brought before the Local Government Board they will, as they have hitherto done, at once cause inquiry to be made into the merits of such cases, and, if necessary, empower their inspectors to carry out the provisions of the Acts.