§ MR. J. P. FARRELLTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he will state what sum, if any, stood to the credit of Boyle No. 1. District Council under the Labourers' Clause in the Land Act of 1896, and how much it was proposed to expend on the erection of labourers' cottages in Boyle No. 1 District; and whether, seeing that the amount to credit of the district under the Land Act of 1896 would have paid the difference between income and outgoings on these cottages when erected, can he state in what stage the Council's schemes now stand, and whether the amount is hypothecated under the Irish Land Bill.
(Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) The hon. Member presumably refers to the Exchequer contribution created by Section 5 (2) (b) of the 54 and 55 Vic, c. 48, towards the cost of providing labourers' cottages. Out of this fund a sum of £158 was paid on the 1st instant to the County Council on behalf of the Boyle No. 1 District Council in aid of the cost of cottages erected, and a further sum of £1,513 was paid on the same date to the Commissioners of Public Works in reduction of loans advanced for such cottages. The scheme sanctioned in 1900 provided for the erection of thirty-two cottages with acre allotments. Of these, twenty-five cottages were completed in February last, and five were in progress. In reply to the concluding inquiry, the Exchequer contribution forms part of the guarantee fund for the purposes of the Act above quoted, and of subsequent Purchase Acts, including the Bill now before Parliament.