§ MR. P. A. M'HUGHI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he has received a copy of a resolution adopted at a meeting of the Manorhamilton Board of Guardians on the 5th October instant, claiming that the charge for the Manorhamilton waterworks should be levied on the town of Manorhamilton and the town-lands of Clooneen and Skreeny, in accordance with a previous decision of the guardians sanctioned by the Local Government Board; is an attempt now being made to levy the cost of the waterworks on the union at large; and would he instruct the Local Government Board to limit the charge to the area originally decided on so as to secure the ratepayers of the union at large against the imposition of a charge which the Local Government Board, after due inquiry, fixed on Manorhamilton, Clooneen, and Skreeny.
§ MR. G. W. BALFOURA copy of the resolution mentioned has been received. Under the General Order issued by the Local Government Board on May 15 last, the area of charge for all special sanitary expenses, except those incurred in municipal towns, was made the rural district. As Manorhamilton is not a town under municipal government, the expenses for the water scheme became, therefore, leviable over the rural district. An Amending Order was subsequently issued, and both the original Order of May 15 and the Amending Order were made valid and effectual for all purposes by a clause in the Public Works Loans Act of last session. Any further alteration in the areas of charge thus fixed would probably be ultra vires, but the cases of one or two localities, which were not included in the Amending Order, have since been the subject of representations to the Local Government Board, and it is under consideration whether it may not be advisable in the course of next session to give the Board, by legislation, power to deal with such cases.
§ MR. DILLON (Mayo, E.)Was the Order made valid for only one year or for an indefinite period?
§ MR. G. W. BALFOUROh, permanently.