§ MR. T. W. RUSSELL (Tyrone, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that, in the case of the Bangor (county Down) Improvement Bill, a petition has been presented against the Bill by a landowner of the district, and that such petition has been deposited by Mr. Tighe Macredy, solicitor, Dublin; and whether, seeing that Mr. Macredy is solicitor to the Local Government Board, by which body a report on the Bill must be sent to the Select Committee, he will say whether it is usual for the solicitor to the Local Government Board to act for opponents of a Bill upon which the Board has to advise.
§ MR. WALTER LONGMessrs. Macredy are employed by the Board when they require the services of a solicitor, but are not debarred from taking private practice. The Board have no occasion to employ their solicitors in connection with private Bills, and Messrs. Macredy are therefore not consulted in such matters, nor do they see the Board's reports before they are made public