§ MR. MAURICE HEALYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland what is the average amount per head per week which it costs as a rule to maintain the inmates of district lunatic asylums in Ireland; and whether he can give any information as to the reason which lead the Government to believe that lunatics transferred from workhouses to district asylums will only cost half as much as the other inmates?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe average amount per head, per week, which it costs to maintain the inmates of district lunatic asylums in Ireland during the year 1897 was 8s. 10¾d. The cost of chronic and harmless lunatics would undoubtedly be considerably less than this amount, and the suggestion that the grant in aid should be limited to 2s. in their case was adopted from the Report of 1879 of the Poor Law Union and Lunacy Inquiry Commission (Ireland).