§ MR. DALYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the inspector to the Local Government Board, on his recent inspection of Belfast Workhouse, suggested large changes in the management of that institution; whether he can say if these changes recommended by the inspector are due to the fact that the landlords in the future will not have to contribute to any increase of the poor rate; whether he can state if the inspector who advised these reforms has been long inspecting Belfast Workhouse; and whether he can explain why this gentleman waited so long to complain of the insanitary and dilapidated state of the laundry, lavatory accommodation, bad food of the inmates, overcrowding of the infirmary, insufficient water supply, and increase of the staff of nurses?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe fact is not as stated in the first paragraph. The changes suggested by the inspector are such as are rendered inevitable from time to time in a large establishment like the Belfast Workhouse. The inspector has been five years in charge of the district which comprises Belfast, and he has constantly drawn attention in his Reports to the growing need for improvements in certain departments of the workhouse. The guardians have expended large sums in making extensions and carrying out improvements, and it should hardly be necessary to observe that the inspector, who, in the discharge of his paramount duty, suggested the carrying out of necessary alterations and improvements which have been largely undertaken in the past by the guardians, was not influenced by considerations of the incidence of the poor rate.