§ MR. NANNETTI (Dublin, College Green)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether he has received a copy of a resolution passed at a meeting of the Guardians of the North Dublin Union relative to the condition of the deaf and dumb and blind in Ireland; and whether it is the intention of the Government to give effect to the Report of the Royal Commission of 1888 by legislation whereby the State should be made responsible for their maintenance and education, and thus relieve the guardians of the annual sums now expended for this purpose.
§ MR. JOHN REDMOND (Waterford)I beg also to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that, out of the thousands of blind persons in Ireland, only about five hundred are provided for in institutions largely supported by the rates; and, seeing that the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the condition of the blind, which sat in 1889, declared that their condition called for immediate legislation, will he say what steps the Government propose to take to give effect to the recommendations of the Commission.
§ MR. WYNDHAMI am unable to give any more definite undertaking than that made by my right hon. friend the Attorney General for Ireland, on the 5th May.† I will see that the question is not lost sight of.
§ MR. JOHN REDMONDHow many years are to elapse before the Report of the Commission receives the serious attention of the Irish Government? The Report was made in the year 1889.
§ *MR. T. W. RUSSELL (Tyrone, S.)And the Attorney General told me the matter was receiving sympathetic attention.