§ MR. JORDAN (Fermanagh, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if his attention has been drawn to a report by Dr. M'Carthy, on the 30th May, to the Local Government Board in reference to six dispensary districts composing the union 478 of Enniskillen, namely, that the medical officer's attendance and report books, and the medical relief register of cases and the midwife's register, were not sent to the guardians for examination and that no arrangement has been made for the examination of the dispensary records; is he aware that the guardians, in view of the importance of such examinations, in the interest of the poor, and for the due discharge of the Medical Charities Acts by all officials concerned, on the 12th of August, 1902, requested the Local Government Board to sanction the appointment of local committees, consisting of the guardians representing the dispensary district, the clergymen of all churches, and five ratepayers in each district; the committee to meet monthly, examine the doctor's books, and report to the board of guardians; and, if so, will he, in view of the fact that the doctor's books have not been examined since the passing of the Local Government Act of 1898, and of the difficulty of inducing guardians to remain after the business of the board has terminated, take into consideration the necessity of devising some plan by which an effective examination of the doctor's books may be performed with the least tax on guardians' time.
§ MR. WYNDHAMSection 30 of the Act of 1898 abolished dispensarv committees and transferred their business to the board of guardians. Consequently the Local Government Board was unable to sanction the arrangement proposed in August, 1902. It is open to the guardians under Article 10 of the Dispensary Rules to appoint a small committee of its members for the purposes mentioned in the Question. In the majority of the unions the guardians themselves examine the books. Elsewhere the duty has been delegated to a committee of guardians with satisfactory results.