§ MR. SHEEHAN (Cork Co., Mid)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that, in the fifth improvement scheme of labourers' cottages in the Cork Rural District Council, Timothy Sexton was an applicant for a cottage and plot of land on the holding of A. Ferguson, Ballycurreen, Electoral Division of Lebenagh; and that the Local Government Board Inspector refused to recommend the application, on the ground that the applicant was unmarried and living with his father; and will he state whether the fact that a labourer 724 is unmarried has been determined by the Local Government Board to be sufficient reason for rejecting his application for a cottage.
§ MR. ATKINSONSection 4 of the Labourers Act of 1883 provides that representations shall deal with the sufficiency of the existing accommodation for "agricultural labourers and their families." The fact that an applicant is unmarried is not a bar to the granting of a cottage, if it be shown that other members of his family are living with and dependent upon him, and that the house occupied by the family has been condemned as unfit for human habitation. In the present case the house of Sexton was not so condemned.
§ MR. SHEEHANIf a labourer is about to marry, does that qualify him for a labourer's cottage?
§ MR. ATKINSONUnder the Labourers' Acts local authorities are not bound to provide cottages for people about to marry.