§ MR. JORDAN () Fermanagh, S.I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that on an inquiry held in the Lisnaskea Union, County Fermanagh, in the year 1895, by an inspector of the Local Government Board, it was ordered that 12 labourers' cottages should be erected; can he state why those houses have not yet been built; and, if they are to be erected, when will the building be commenced; and can he also state if requisitions for additional cottages in the Donagh and other districts have been presented to the Guardians of said Union, and if they have been considered by the Guardians; and, if not, why not?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe scheme of the Guardians for the erection of 12 cottages, consequent on the recommendation made by the Inspector of the Local Government Board, was received by the Board in December, 1896. The Provisional Order became absolute in August, 1897, and as the Guardians were unable to obtain the lands for the cottages by agreement, arbitration proceedings followed which were not completed till June, 1898. It is expected that the purchase will be completed in a few days, when it is intended to invite tenders for the erection 867 of the cottages. As regards the last paragraph, it appears that eight representations subsequently lodged were considered by the Guardians in April, 1897, when they came to the conclusion that in six of these, for various reasons, no new cottages were required, and the consideration of the two remaining representations was postponed.