HC Deb 02 May 1898 vol 57 cc37-8
DR. C. K. TANNER (Cork Co., Mid)

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Cork Board of Guardians have recently served notices to quit on a number of tenants of cottages built under the Labourers (Ireland) Acts, and have announced their intention of raising the rents of such cottages to 2s. 6d. per week; whether he is aware that the average rate of the wages of agricultural labourers in Cork Union is from 7s. to 10s. per week; whether, in fixing the rents of such cottages, regard should be had under the provisions of the Labourers Acts to the circumstances of the agricultural labourers for whom they are intended; in how many cases have the Cork Board of Guardians already raised the rents, and in how many cases have they had recourse to legal proceedings to determine the present tenancies in order to enforce the proposed increase; and whether the Local Government Board will make inquiries or hold a sworn investigation with a view to determining whether the increased rents are justified by the spirit or the letter of the Labourers Acts?

MR. GERALD BALFOUR

The honourable Member appears to be under a complete misapprehension as to the action of the Cork Board of Guardians in this matter. The guardians have already provided 302 cottages in the union, and, having received representations in favour of the erection of additional cottages, they caused inquiries to be made as to whether any of the present tenants of the cottages were other than agricultural labourers. The guardians found that in 16 cases the tenants could not be regarded as agricultural labourers, and in seven of these cases the guardians made an order that the tenants be required to pay 2s. 6d. a week rent, instead of a shilling, as charged to bonâ fide agricultural labourers. The tenants in question having refused to pay, the guardians instructed their solicitor to proceed against them for recovery of possession of the cottages. Thus it will be seen that the action of the guardians is not directed against the labourers, as represented by the honourable Member, but against certain tenants who are not agricultural labourers. No interference on the part of the Local Government Board is called for.