§ MR TULLY (Leitrim, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether the Local Government Board have issued a circular to the various Boards of Guardians, inviting them to make charges on contributory areas for sanitary purposes union at large charges; and whether, inasmuch as Sub-section 9, Section 54, of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, makes the landlords liable for half the sanitary rate as at present, the Local Government Board in their circular have directed the attention of the Boards of Guardians to this provision.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe Local Government Board recently issued a circular to Rural Sanitary Authorities suggesting the desirability of making the future area of charge for all small sanitary expenses the entire rural district, so as to reduce the possibility of complication in the County Accounts, and to effect other objects in harmony with the spirit of the Act. The incidence of the rate for sanitary purposes does not appear to be affected by the enlargement of the area over which the rate is to be levied, and as the Board's circular does not interfere with the right of tenants to make the deduction from rent referred to in Section 54 (9) of the Act, it was not considered necessary to deal with this question in the circular.