§ MR. MURNAGHAN (Tyrone, Mid.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the Town Commissioners of Omagh addressed to the Local Government Board a petition to have their town constituted an urban sanitary authority, and in reply were informed that the opinion of the Tyrone County Council should be elicited as to the proposal; is he aware that the Tyrone County Council, by unanimous voice, gave its endorsement to the petition of the Omagh Town Commissioners; and will he state the cause of delay on the part of the Local Government Board in granting to a town of 5,000 inhabitants the sanitary powers necessary to its welfare.
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. G. W. BALFOUR,) Leeds, CentralThe facts are as stated in the first paragraph of this question. It was always the practice of the Local Government Board before constituting towns as road authorities under the Public Health Act, to afford grand juries an opportunity of expressing their views upon such proposal, which, if carried into effect, deprived them of their jurisdiction over the urban areas. For the same reason the Board think it right to give the county councils an opportunity of appearing at the inquiries and expressing their opinions upon any application made by the towns under Section 42 of the Local Government Act. I believe the Tyrone Council is in favour of the proposal, and if this is so they probably will not think it necessary to be represented at the inquiry. The delay in holding the inquiry is caused by the fact that a large number of similar applications have to be dealt with, and these must be taken in turn.