§ MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN (Kilkenny)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that houses for labourers are much needed in the Stamullen and Julianstown Divisions of the Drogheda Rural District, and that three labourers named Peter Cullen, Patrick Wade, and Patrick Coyle, whose present residences were certified by the medical officer as unfit for habitation, have repeatedly applied to the Drogheda District Council for cottages, and wore refused; whether a memorial from the ratepayers of these districts has been received by the Local Government Board praying for an inquiry into the necessity for house accommodation for labourers in the districts named; whether he is aware that one of the applicants, Peter Cullen, was ordered by the District Council to vacate his house owing to its dangers and unsanitary condition, and was offered a cottage instead, which is two miles from his place of employment; and whether, under the circumstances, he proposes to take any steps to induce the Drogheda District Council to provide the necessary houses for these labourers. I beg at the same time to congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his recovery from illness.
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. G. W. BALFOUR, Leeds, Central)I thank the hon. Member for his kindly reference to myself. I am informed that 341 cottages have already been erected under the Labourers Acts in the Drogheda Rural District, and that the Rural Council propose to build forty-five additional cottages. The selection of particular labourers as tenants of the cottages is a matter entirely within the discretion of the local authority, and the reply to the last paragraph is therefore in the negative.