§ MR. WOOD (Down Co., E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been drawn to the application by the Belfast Corporation for a loan for the erection of a smallpox hospital at Purdysburn, County Down; and whether, having regard to the practice in England, an inquiry will be held at which the ratepayers will he heard, and the rules of the Local Government Board in England as to the striking distance of smallpox contagion he adopted.
§ MR. WYNDHAMNo application has been received for a loan for the erection of a smallpox hospital at Purdysburn; consequently no inquiry will be held in the matter. In February last an inquiry was held in respect to an application by the Belfast Corporation for a loan of £50,000 for the erection of a permanent Infectious Diseases Hospital on the lands of Purdysburn acquired by the Corporation for Hospital purposes. At the inquiry all persons interested had an opportunity of being heard, and no objections to the proposal were made. This loan was sanctioned in May. The question of providing a temporary smallpox hospital was not raised when the inquiry into the application for the loan was held.