§ MR. MACVEAGHTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the attention of the Local Government Board for Ireland has been called to the terms under which labourers' cottages are let by the Moira (County Down) Rural District Council; whether he is aware that labourers earning 6s. a week are required to pay a weekly rental of 1s. 3d. for houses, some of which are not properly drained and are not in a sanitary condition; and that where two houses are built in proximity, fences are not erected between the plots; and, if so, whether he can state what 760 action the Local Government Board proposes to take.
(Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) The rental of these cottages is fixed by the District Council, and the Local Government Board has no authority to interfere in the matter. The council at its last meeting directed the architect to prepare a specification and estimate of the drainage and other works required in connection with the cottages, with a view to a contract being entered into.