HC Deb 28 May 1903 vol 123 cc129-30
MR. CULLINAN

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether he will consider the advisability of including in the reference to the Commission on Amalgamation of Unions in Ireland the question of utilising some of the existing workhouses as educational and industrial training schools for orphans, and the children of habitual drunkards and criminals; as homes for unfortunate women with illegitimate children; and as asylums for harmless lunatic epileptics; and also the questions of the admission and treatment of tramps, with the object of devising a scheme which might generally be put in force to cope with the abuses of the existing law.

THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (MR. WYNDHAM,) Dover

The terms of reference are wide enough to enable the Commission to make recommendations for the better treatment of practically all these classes.

MR. CULLINAN

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether, as the matters for investigation by the Commission on Amalgamation of Unions in Ireland will be varied and of concern to all parts of the country, he will consider the advisability of nominating a representative from the South to act on the Commission.

MR. WYNDHAM

The Commission consists of three members, one of whom is the hon. Member for Mid Tyrone. It was considered that a small Commission of thoroughly competent and experienced gentlemen would better conduce to expedition and a workable scheme. It will invite the assistance of the most experienced local representatives throughout the country in the course of its investigations.

MR. CULLINAN

asked whether as the administration of the Poor Law varied greatly in the South from the system obtaining in the North of Ireland, the right hon. Gentleman would give the South some representation on the Commission.

MR WYNDHAM

I am aware that the practice differs in the South from the North, and the attention of the Commission will be drawn to the fact, but I cannot promise to enlarge the Commission. It is essential if the inquiry is to be carried out in an expeditious and business-like manner, to have a small compact body to conduct it, rather than to place on it representatives from all parts of Ireland.