§ MR. MACALEESE (Monaghan, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the parish of Errigal Truagh, which comprises five units under the Local Government Act, with a population (in 1891) of 3,745 souls, has not a resident doctor within its boundaries; whether he is aware that the area of the Monaghan portion of this parish is 21,171 acres, and that the general bulk of the people are amongst the poorest found even in the congested districts in Ireland, and remain dependent upon the services of a medical officer who resides in Aughnacloy, two miles outside the Monaghan union, from which town many of the poor in Errigal parish are separated by a distance of no less than fourteen miles; and whether he will advise the Local Government Board, in the interests of the poor, to consider favourably the views of the Monaghan Guardians, and have the five units of Truagh constituted a dispensary district with a resident medical officer.
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. G. W. BALFOUR,) Leeds, CentralThe area and population of the parish of Errigal are correctly stated. 995 Medical officers are not, however, appointed for parishes, but for dispensary districts, which are not conterminous with parishes. I do not think it is correct to say that the general bulk of the people of this district are amongst the poorest to be found in Ireland. As already pointed out, the medical officer has always resided at Aughnacloy, and the distance in a direct line from his residence to the most remote points in the district is not more than nine miles. With reference to the last paragraph, I cannot add anything to my replies to the questions previously addressed to me by the hon. Member on this subject.
§ MR. MACALEESEWill the right hon. Gentleman grant an inquiry into this matter?
§ MR. G. W. BALFOURNo; it has already been most carefully considered.