§ MR. MCCARTAN (Down, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to a paragraph published in the Dublin "Freeman's Journal" of the 2nd instant, under the heading Local Government Board Medicine Tender Forms; whether he is aware that the paragraph contains a copy of a resolution adopted unanimously by a board of guardians protesting most emphatically against the use of these forms as prejudicial to the purchase of certain medicines in Ireland; whether these forms quote from the price lists of English firms and in certain cases contain the fancy trade mark of English firms; and whether, in the encouragement of Irish industries, these forms will be discontinued, and boards of guardians and district councils 1353 be allowed to purchase with Irish money these drugs, medicines, and instruments from Irish firms in Ireland?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe answer to the first and second paragraphs is in the affirmative. In the Local Government Board's prescribed list of medicines, 11 out of the total of 416 articles given therein are quoted from the price list of an English firm (Messrs. Burroughs and Welcome), the strength of the preparation being stated in each case. These few articles have been added to 11 to 403 preparations of the British Pharmacopoeia included in the list, as being articles of well-established reputation. There is no foundation for the complaint contained in the resolution that the inclusion of the few preparations referred to in the Board's authorised list will be prejudicial to Irish manufacturers, and the Local Government Board have reason to believe that any list which excluded these 11 preparations of Messrs. Burroughs and Welcome would be considered incomplete by the medical profession. These articles have received the approval of the Loyal College of Physicians in Ireland. No objection has been received from the Irish drug trade respecting the Local Government Board's prescribed list of medicines.