§ MR. JASPER TULLY (Leitrim, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether it is the intention of the Local Government Board, having regard to the Maidstone epidemic, to use their powers to force the Mullingar sanitary authority to revive the scheme 1212 for obtaining a water supply from Lough Sheever, the water of which, on analysis by Sir Charles Cameron, was stated to be as impure as the Thames water at London Bridge; whether the sanitary authority have refused to accept the first instalment of the loan for this scheme; and (3) whether the attention of the Local Government Board has been directed to the recent public offer to enable the sanitary authority to obtain a supply of pure and wholesome water from Lough Owel on advantageous terms to the ratepayers?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELANDI have already stated the substance of Sir Charles Cameron's analysis of the water from Lough Sheever—namely, that it was free from sewage and similar pollution. The Guardians have not yet cashed the order received by them in December last, for the first instalment of the loan for this scheme, and they have been informed that unless the order is cashed within a fortnight it will be cancelled. The Local Government Board have no official information with reference to the third paragraph of the Question, but their attention has been directed to a statement in the public Press that some negotiations are pending with reference to obtaining a supply from Lough Owel.